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EDWARD VII, KING OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AND 

EMPEROR OF INDIA 

Ascended the throne January 22. 1901. 



THE LIFE OF 

King Edward VII 



WITH A SKETCH OF THE CAREER OF GEORGE, 
PRINCE OF WALES AND A HISTORY OF THE 
ROYAL TOUR OF THE EMPIRE IN 1901. *• *• 



By J. CASTELL HOPKINvS, P.vS.S. 

cAuthor of "Queen 'Victoria., Her Life and 'Reign ; ' ' "Life and Work of Mr. Gladstone , 
"The Story of the Thminion, " &c, &c. 



J* 'PUBLISHERS Jt 



THE LIBRARY OF 

CONGRESS, 
Two COPIEd Recsjved 

1902 

OnpyRWHT ENTUY 

Cl ASS ft^XXo. No. 

£ £> A If 

COP* 3> 






Entered according to Act of 
Congress in tKe year 1902 by 
W. E. SCULL, in the office 
of the Librarian of Con gress, 
at Washington, D. C. 



Entered a t Stationers' Hall, 
London, England. 



All Rights Reserved 



^ 



PREFACE 



DURING a number of years' study of British institutions 
in their modern development and of British public life 
in its adjustment to new and changing conditions I 
have felt an ever-growing appreciation of the active influence 
exercised by the present Sovereign of the British Empire upon 
the social life and public interests of the United Kingdom and 
an ever-increasing admiration for his natural abilities and rare 
tactfulness of character. King Edward the Seventh, in a 
sixty years' tenure of the difficult position of Heir to the 
British Throne, has built into the history of his country and 
Empire a record of which he and his people have every reason 
to be proud. He had for many years the responsibilities of a 
Royal position without the actual power; the public functions 
of a great ruler without the resources usually available ; the 
knowledge, experience and statecraft of a wise Sovereign 
without the Regal environment. 

The Prince of Wales, however, rose above the apparent 
difficulties of his position and for more than a quarter of a 
century has emulated the wise example of his princely father — 
Albert the Good — and profited by the beautiful character and 
unquestioned statesmanship of his august mother. As with 
all those upon whose life beats the glare of ever-present pub- 
licity and upon whose actions the press of friendly and hostile 
nations alike have the privilege of ceaseless comment, the 
Heir to the British Throne has had to suffer from atrocious 
canards as well as from fulsome compliments. Unlike many 
others, however, he has lived down the falsehoods of an early 



vi PREFACE 

time ; has conquered by his clear, open life the occasional 
hostility of a later day ; and at the period of his accession to 
the Throne was, without and beyond question, the best liked 
Prince in Europe — the most universally popular man in the 
United Kingdom and its external Empire. Upon the verge 
of His Majesty's Coronation there has occurred that sudden 
and dramatic illness which proves so well the bravery and 
patience of the man, and has increased so greatly the popu- 
larity and prestige of the Monarch. 

In the United States, which King Edward has always 
regarded with an admiration which the enterprise and 
energy of its people well deserved, he has in turn won 
a degree of respect and regard which did not at one time seem 
propable. To him, ever since the visit to the Republic in i860, 
a closer and better relation between the two great countries 
has been an ideal toward which as statesman and Prince and 
Sovereign he has tried to labour. 

For years past my interest in this Royal career has led 
me to collect materials beari ig upon its evolution ; and if the 
bringing together of these facts in the following pages should 
help in even the most minute degree to promote public appre- 
ciation of one who, I believe, is destined to be a great 
Sovereign, as he was a wise Prince, I shall be more than 
satisfied. 




'A^i/^LL/ 



Toronto, Canada, 1902. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

The Crown and the Empire PAG e 

The Harmonizing of Monarchy and Democracy in the British Em- 
pire — The Influence of Queen Victoria During the Past Cen- 
tury — The Elements of Imperial Influence in the Crown — The 
Crown the Pivot of Unity — The Great Position and Opportuni- 
ties of the New King — The Traditions and Principles of 
Monarchy in Great Britain — Its Growth from Feudalism to 
Constitutionalism — Its Expansion and Application to a World- 
Empire — The Cost of the Monarchy 17 

CHAPTER II 

Early Years and Education of the Prince 

The Home Life of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort — Favour- 
able Surroundings of the Royal Family — Birth of the Prince — 
Christening Ceremonies and the Title of Prince of Wales — A 
Gay Court and a Happy Home — Additions to the Royal Family 
—Early Education and Training of the Children— The Parents' 
Sense of Responsibility— Religious and Other Instructors — 
Prince Albert's Watchful Care Over the Training of the Youth- 
ful Prince of Wales— Visits to Italy, Spain and Portugal. 
Colonel Bruce Appointed Governor — Studies at Edinburgh, 
Oxford and Cambridge— Death of the Prince Consort— Tour in 
the East Accompanied by Dean Stanley— Following the Foot- 
steps of Richard Coeur de Lion — In the Holy Land — At Con- 
stantinople, Athens and Malta 31 

CHAPTER III. 

Royal Tour of British America and the United States 

Importance of this Royal Visit— First Check Administered to the 
Manchester School of Anti-Empire Theorists — The Canadian 

vii 



viii TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Invitation and Royal Answer — Preparations for the Tour and 
Arrival at Newfoundland — Reception at Halifax, St. John and 
Other Points in the Maritime Provinces — Arrival at Quebec and 
Welcome by the Governor- General and his Ministers — Knight- 
hoods Conferred and Addresses Answered — At Three Rivers, 
Montreal and Ottawa — Laying the Corner-stone of the Parlia- 
ment Buildings — Visit to Toronto and Other Points — The 
Orange Incident — At London, Stratford, Woodstock, Hamilton 
and Many Other Places — Enthusiastic Receptions, Loyal Ad- 
dresses and Interesting Replies — Visit to the United States as 
Lord Renfrew — Detroit, Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Wash- 
ington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and Other 
Places — Departure from Portland and Arrival at Home — In- 
fluence and Effects of the RoyaTTour 

CHAPTER IV 

The Royal Marriage 

The Early Years and Surroundings of the Princess Alexandra of 
Denmark — " The Most Beautiful Girl in Europe " and a Royal 
Romance — Story of the Engagement — The Enthusiastic Recep- 
tion of the Princess in England and Splendour of the Progress 
Through London — The Marriage in St. George's Chapel, 
Windsor — Description by Mr. Speaker Denison — Lady Water- 
ford and Canon Kingsley Describe the Beautiful Bride — The 
Home Life of the Royal Couple — Character and Tastes of the 
Princess of Wales — Royal Visit to Ireland and Wales 



:k J 



CHAPTER V 

Early Home Life and Public Duties 

Early Married Life of the Royal Couple — Elements Entering into the 
Development of the Prince's Character — The First Royal Func- 
tions Following the Marriage — Speeches Upon Different Occa- 
sions — A Succession of Ceremonial Events — Visit of the Khe- 
dive of Egypt — A Royal Tour of Ireland — Births of Prince 
Edward, Prince George and the Princesses Louise, Victoria and 
Maud — Visit to Manchester in 1869 — Patronage of Many Insti- 
tutions — Illness of the Princess of Wales — Life at Marlborough 
and Sandringham — The Prince as a Father, as a Landlord, as a 
Host — The Princess at Home and Abroad 79 



TABLE OF CONTENTS ix 

CHAPTER VI 

Travels in the East 

PAGE 

The Prince of Wales a Much -Travel led Man — Preliminaries to the 
Eastern Tour of 1869 — Visit of the Princess and Himself to 
Copenhagen, Stockholm, Berlin and Vienna — Arrival in Egypt 
— Their Suite and Friends — Entertained by the Khedive at 
Cairo — The Princess Visits the Khedive's Harem — Trip Up the 
Nile — Thebes, Luxor and Karnac — The Pyramids — Through 
the Suez Canal — In the Holy Land — At Jerusalem and Bethle- 
hem — Visit to Constantinople — In the Crimea — On the Battle- 
field of Balaclava — From the Bosphorus to Athens — Home 
Again — Importance of the Tour 99 

CHAPTER VII 

Serious Illness of the Prince 

Character and Position of the Prince of Wales in 1871 — Origin of 
His Illness — Typhoid Contracted at the Same Time and Place 
Kills Lord Chesterfield and the Prince's Groom — Anxiety of 
the Nation — Progress of the Disease — The Queen and Royal 
Family at Sandringham — Crisis Prolonged for Many Days — 

• Intense Interest of the People — Final Recovery of the Prince — 
The Queen's Letter to the Nation — Thanksgiving Day and the 
National Celebration of the Event — Effect of the Illness on the 
Prince of Wales — Results in a Great Development of His Popu- 
larity and Influence 117 

CHAPTER VIII 

The Prince of Wales in India 

Imperial Importance of the Royal Visit — Its Origin and Character — 
Mr. Disraeli and Parliament — Arrangements and Appointment 
of the Suite — Commencement of the Journey — At Athens, Port 
Said and Cairo — From Aden to Bombay — Arrival and Striking 
Reception of the Royal Guest — The Prince and the Chiefs of 
India — Sir Madhava Rao and Sir Salar Jung — Visits to Baroda 
and Hyderabad — From Madras to Calcutta — Banquets and Re- 
ceptions — Deer Stalking, Fishing and Shooting — Native Enter- 



x TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGB 

tainments and Customs — A Chapter of the Star of India — Visit 
to Cawnpore and Royal Entry into Delhi — At Lahore and 
Gwalior — Visit to Nepaul and Allahabad — Farewell to India 
and Short Tour of Spain and Portugal — Return of the Much- 
Travelled Prince to London — Extraordinary Character of the 
Whole Tour — Important Results Both in a Personal and Im- 
perial Sense i 3 ' 

CHAPTER IX 

Thirty Years of Public Work 

Royal Visit to Derby — At the Marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh 
in St. Petersburg — Ceremonies in Connection with Asylums, 
Agricultural Shows and Benevolent Institutions — Royal Visit to 
Birmingham in 1874 — Visit to Cambridge and to Dartmouth — 
The Prince Speaks on Education at Various Times and Places 
— Directs and Controls the Fisheries Exhibition — Housing of 
the Poor — The Prince as Chairman of the International Health 
Exhibition — Various Functions — Hospitals, Charities, Presen- 
tation of Colours, Unveiling of Statues — The Glasgow Exhi- 
bition of 1885 Opened by the Prince — At the Trinity House — A 
Succession of Onerous Duties Well Performed 162 

CHAPTER X 

Special Functions and Interests 

Interest Taken by the Prince of Wales in Masonry — Becomes Grand 
Master of the English Order. Installed as Grand Master of the 
Mark Masons — The Freemasons and the Queen's Jubilee — Visit 
of the Prince and Princess to Ireland in 1885 — Addresses 
Received in Dublin and the Replies Made by His Royal High- 
ness — Enthusiasm of the Popular Reception — Visit to Mallow 
and Cork — Incidents of the Tour — The Prince's Love for 
Music — Heads a Movement to Promote National Training in 
Music — Founds the Royal College of Music and Delivers an 
Important Speech — The Prince and the Queen's Jubilee in 1887 
— His Control of Arrangements at the Diamond Jubilee .... 1 8 1 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xi 

CHAPTER XI 

The Prince and His Family 

Education and Training of the Royal Family — Domestic Life at 
Sandringham — The Princess of Wales a Model Mother — The 
Prince's Views of a Boy's Education — He Takes Prince Eddie 
and Prince George in Hand — Character of Their Training — On 
Board the Britannia — The Young Princes Sent on a Cruise to 
the West Indies, Egypt, India, Australia, Japan and South 
Africa — Tutors at the University — Education of the Daughters 
— Simple and Useful System — The Members of the Royal 
Family in Mature Years — Marriages of Princess Louise and 
Princess Maud — Engagement and Death of the Duke of Clar- 
ence and Avondale — The Favourite Son of the Princess of 
Wales — Grief of the Father and Mother — Marriage of the Duke 
of York to the Princess May — The Grand-children of the Prince 
and Princess of Wales — Prince Edward, the future Heir to the 
Throne 



CHAPTER XII 

The Prince as a Social Leader 

Importance of Social Functions — The Prince of Wales Leads the 
Social Life of His Country — His Influence Upon Current Taste 
and Current Custom — Visit to Country Houses — Royal Rules 
and Etiquette in the Acceptance of Invitations — Some of the 
Prince's Favourite Hosts — The Duke and Duchess of Devon- 
shire — Lord and Lady Cadogan — Lord and Lady Londonderry — 
Lord and Lady Warwick — At Sandringham and Marlborough 
House — The Derby-Day Dinners — Stories of the Prince — His 
Social Characteristics — His Personal Friends — The Duke of 
Fife and Lord Glenesk — "The Prince's Set" — Social Clever- 
ness and Dignity of the Prince of Wales — His Leadership of 
Society Greatly Aided by the Tact of the Princess 

CHAPTER XIII 

The Prince as a Sportsman 

Thoroughly English and Royal in His Love of Sport — Advantages 
of Good Sportsmanship in a Nation — A High Code of Honour 
Prevalent in England — The Prince of Wales Leads in This 



191 



203 



xii TABLE OF CONTENTS 

FAGS 

Connection — His Patronage of the Turf a Great Benefit to Sport 
— At Ascot, Newmarket and Goodwood — Persimmon Wins the 
Derby — Popularity of the Victory — The Prince in Steeple- 
Chasing — His Horses and Stables — Perseverance and Fair Play 
the Royal Motto — His Love for Shooting — Said to be the Best 
Shot in the Kingdom — Deer Stalking in the North — Hunting 
With the German Emperor in the Forests of Central Europe — 
With Baron Hirsch in Hungary — Hunting in Egypt and India 
— The Prince as a Yachtsman — A True Leader of the Sport of 
the Realm 211 

CHAPTER XIV 

Habits and Character of the Prince 

Incidents and Influences in the Formation of Character — The Royal 
Environment — Self-Control, Good Memory and Courage Char- 
acteristics of the Prince of Wales — Good Nature and Dignity 
Combined in His Manner — Stories of the Prince Which Illus- 
trate His Inherent Courtesy — His Fondness for Country Life — 
His Strict Observance of the Sabbath — The Prince and Princess 
at Church — His Patronage of the Theatre — Cricket, Hockey, 
Lawn-Tennis and Bowls — The Prince as a Dancer and Skater — 
Other Games Affected by the Prince — Cards and Card-playing — 
The Famous Baccarat Case — The Prince at the Table — Moder- 
ation His Motto — Anecdotes Illustrating His Character and 
Habits — A Life of Broad Toleration and Courteous Consider- 
ation for Others 218 

CHAPTER XV 

The Prince as an Empire Statesman 

Inheritance of Imperial Ideas from the Prince Consort — Value to 
Himself and the United Kingdom of the Prince's Travels — 
Sending of His Sons to Visit the Colonies — Desire ot the Prince 
of Wales to visit Australia — He Inaugurates the Colonial and 
Indian Exhibition — Founds the Imperial Institute — His Deep 
Interest in the Royal Colonial Institute — The Colonies and the 
Royal College of Music — The Prince of Wales and the Colonial 
Conference of 1887 — The Prince and Colonial Statesmen in 1897 
— His View of the Relationship of the Crown to the Colonies . 234 




ALEXANDRA 
The Queen Consort of Edward VII. 




QUEEN VICTORIA, 1901 
The Honored Mother of Edward VII. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xiii 

CHAPTER XVI 

The Prince as Heir Apparent 

The Difference Between His Position and that of Previous Heirs to 
the Throne — The Difference in Character and Apparent Wisdom 
of the Course Pursued — Difficulties of the Prince of Wales — His * 
Financial Position Not a" Serious Trouble — Estates Very Care- 
fully Managed — In the Political and Diplomatic World — Abso- 
lute Impartiality in the One Case ; Unquestioned Influence in 
the Other — Association with Rulers, Statesmen and Public 
Leaders — The Prince and the People — His Combined Democracy 
and Dignity — His view of the Crown in Its Relation to the Sub- 
ject — Immense and Valued Philanthropic Interests of Himself 
and the Princess of Wales — An Estimate of the Sums Given 
Away by Them Over a Term of Years 2 aR 

CHAPTER XVII 

Accession to the Throne 

The Death of Queen Victoria — Confidence of the Empire in the New 
Sovereign — The King's First Privy Council — He Speaks to the 
Nation — An Address to the People of Canada and to Those of 
Australia — The Army and Navy and the King — Parliamentary 
Speeches on the Accession — Queen Victoria's Funeral — Opin- 
ions of the New King in Australia, Canada and Elsewhere — 
Colonial Addresses and Expressions of Loyalty — Foreign Senti- 
ment and References — The King and the Emperor William — 
Special Embassies to Foreign Countries — The Name and Title 
of the Sovereign 2 6S 

CHAPTER XVIII 

The First Year of the New Reign 

King Edward Opens His First Parliament — Brilliant Character of 
His Majesty's First Functions — Great Popularity of the King 
Shown during His Visit to London — The Accession Oath 
Controversy — Parliamentary Action Attempted — The Roman 
Catholic Prelates Take Action— Opinion in the Colonies — The 
Royal Titles Question — Discussion in the British and Canadian 
Press — Parliamentary Action Taken After Colonial Opinion 



xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Has Been Obtained — Final Decision and Proclamation by the 
King-Emperor — The Death of the Empress Frederick — The 
King Attends the Funeral at Fredrickshof — Visit to the German 
Emperor — The New Prince of Wales Pays an Official Visit to 
Berlin — The King and Queen Alexandra hold their First 
Court — A Brilliant and Beautiful Event at Buckingham 
Palace 286 

CHAPTER XIX 

Empire Tour of the New Heir to the Throne 

Comparison with Previous Royal Tours — Origin of the Project — 
Preparation and Appointment of the Suite — From Portsmouth 
to Melbourne by way of Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Ceylon and 
Singapore — Brilliant Scenes and Enthusiastic Receptions — 
Opening of the Australian Parliament and Varied Functions — - 
At Ballarat, Brisbane and Sydney — A Triumphant Progress — 
Loyal New Zealand Gives a Royal Welcome — Visit to Rotorua 
and Reception by the Maoris — At Albany, Perth and Fremantle 
in Australia — Mauritius Visited on the Way to South Africa — 
Amid Scenes of Recent War and Present Welcome — Durban, 
Maritzburg, Simon's Bay and Cape Town — Arrival at Quebec — 
In Montreal and Ottawa — From the Atlantic to the Pacific and 
Back again — Over the Canadian Pacific Railway — Winnipeg 
and the West — Through the Rocky Mountains — Reception at 
Toronto — Halifax and St. John — Farewells to Australia and 
Canada — Myriad Addresses and Able Replies of His Royal 
Highness — Presents to the Duchess — Newfoundland Visited — 
Welcome Home to England — The Duke of Cornwall Becomes 
the Prince of Wales 305 

CHAPTER XX 

The King and the South African War 

Interest of the Royal Family in the Struggle — Influence of Queen 
Victoria and Activities of the Prince of Wales — The New King's 
Keen Sympathy with Officers and Men — His Insight into the 
Imperial Importance of the Struggle — His Honours of the Army 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xv 

PAGE 

and its Commanders — The Negotiations for Peace and End of 
the War — The King's Messages and Speeches — Royal Honours 
to Roberts and Kitchener 35 1 

CHAPTER XXI 

Preparations for the Coronation 

Importance of the Event and Intense Popular Interest in its Con- 
summation — Arrangements Throughout the Empire for its 
Celebration — Preparations Amongst Foreign Nations to Honour 
the British Sovereign — Colonial Leaders and Foreign Representa- 
tives Arrive in London — Indian and Colonial Troops at the 
Metropolis — The Great Naval Review Arranged — Executive 
Committee of Management and Final Programme of Events — 
The Coronation Conference — Rumoured Illness of the King . . 368 

CHAPTER XXII 

Serious Illness of the King 

The Position of Affairs in London and Throughout the Empire — 
An Eventful Day and Dramatic Announcement — His Majesty's 
Dangerous Illness. Its Character and History — Postponement 
of the Coronation — Sympathy of British Peoples Everywhere — 
Dislocation in Social, National, Financial and Colonial Affairs 
— A World-wide Realm Disturbed in Business and Anxious in 
Spirit — Foreign Friendliness Displayed — Gradual Recovery of 
the King 380 

CHAPTER XXIII 

The Coronation 

Preliminary Incidents and Events — The Coronation Honours — En- 
tertainment of the Colonial Premiers and Guests — The Troops 
from India and the External Empire — The King's Dinner to the 
Poor — Six Hundred Thousand Royal Guests — Functions, Ban- 
quets and Receptions — The Coronation on August 9th — The 
Procession to the Abbey — Splendour of the Scene and Cere- 
monial — Incidents of the Day — The Great Naval Review — Inau- 
guration of a New Era in British History 391 



xvi TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XXIV 

Industrial and Commercial Development of Great Britain 

PACiH 

The Evolution of a Century — The Steam Engine — Vast Accumula- 
tion of Capital — The Factory System — England's Pre-eminence 
in Manufacture — Inventive Progress — Progress in Postal Facili- 
ties 421 

CHAPTER XXV 

Victoria — England's Great Queen 

A CANADIAN TRIBUTE 

The Throne the Embodiment of Power — Great Influence of the 
Monarch — Intimate Relations Between the Countries of the 
Empire — The Great Queen's Tact and Sagacity — Her Succes- 
sor's Inheritance 432 



CHAPTER I. 

The Crown and the Empire 

THE great development of a political nature in the British 
Empire of the nineteenth century was the complete 
harmony which gradually evolved between the Mon- 
archy and a world-wide democracy. This process was all- 
important because it eliminated an element of internal discord 
which has destroyed more than one nation in the past ; because 
it permitted the peaceful progress of scattered states to 
continue through the passing years without having questions 
of allegiance to seriously hamper their growth ; because it 
trained political thought along lines of stability and continuity 
and made loyalty and liberty consistent and almost synony- 
mous terms ; because it made the Crown the central symbol of 
the Empire's unity, the visible object of a world-wide alle- 
giance, the special token of a common aspiration and a common 
sentiment amongst many millions of English-speaking people 
— the subject of untutored reverence and unquestioned respect 
amongst hundreds of millions of other races. 

THE POSITION OF THE CROWN. 

The chief factor in this development was the late Queen 
Victoria, and to the inheritance of the fabric thus evolved has 
come a son who was educated amid the constitutional environ- 
ment in which she lived and was trained in the Imperial ideas 
which she so strongly held and so wisely impressed upon her 
statesmen, her family and her people. King Edward has now 
come into responsibilities which are greater in some respects 
than those ever before inherited by a reigning sovereign. He 
2 17 



1 8 THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 

has not only the great example and life of his predecessor as 
a model and as a comparison ; not only the same vast and 
ever-changing and expanding Empire to rule over ; not only a 
similar myriad-eyed press and public to watch his every expres- 
sion and movement ; but he enters with his people upon a new 
century in which one of the first and most prominent features 
is a decay in popular respect for Parliament and a revival of 
the old-time love for stately display, for ceremonial and for the 
appropriate trappings of royalty. With this evident and 
growing influence of the Crown as a social and popular factor 
is the knowledge which all statesmen and constitutional 
students now possess of the personal influence in diplomacy 
and statecraft which was wielded by the late Queen Victoria 
and which the experience and tact of the present Monarch 
must assuredly enable him to also exercise. Side by side with 
these two elements in the situation is the conviction which has 
now become fixed throughout the Empire that the Crown is 
the pivot upon which its unity and future co-operation natur- 
ally and properly turns ; that the Sovereign is the one possible 
central figure of allegiance for all its scattered countries and 
world-wide races ; that without the Crown as the symbol of 
union and the King as the living object of allegiance and 
personal sentiment the British realms would soon be a series 
of separated units. 

These facts lend additional importance to the character 
and history of the Monarchy ; to the influences which have 
controlled the life and labours of King Edward ; to the abilities 
which have marked his career and the elements which have 
entered into the making of his character. He may not in the 
succeeding years of his reign declare war like an Edward I., 
or make secret diplomatic arrangements like a Charles II. He 
may not manipulate foreign combinations like a William III., 
or dismiss his Ministers at pleasure like a George III., or 
work one faction in his Kingdom against another like a 



THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 19 

Charles I. None of these things will be attempted, nor will 
he, it is safe to say, desire to undertake them. But none the 
less there lies in his hand a vast and growing power — the 
personal influence wielded by a popular and experienced 
Monarch over his Ministry, his Court, his Diplomatic Staff 
throughout the world, and his high officers in the Army and 
Navy. The prestige of his personal honours or personal wishes 
and the known Imperialism of his personal opinions must have 
great weight in controlling Colonial policy in London ; while 
his experience of European and Eastern statecraft through 
many years of close intercourse with foreign and home states- 
men must have its pronounced effect in the control of British 
policy abroad. 

To the external Empire, as constituted at the beginning 
of the twentieth century, the Crown is a many-sided factor. 
The personal and diplomatic influence of the Sovereign is 
obvious and was illustrated by Queen Victoria in such historic 
incidents as the personal relations with King Louis Philippe 
which probably averted a war with France in the early forties ; 
in the later friendship with Louis Napoleon which helped 
to make the Crimean War alliance possible ; in the refusal by 
the Queen to assent to a certain casus belli despatch 
during- the American War which saved Great Britain from 
being drawn into the struggle ; in her influence upon the 
Cabinet in connection with the Schleswig-Holstein question, 
which was exerted to such an extent (according to Lord Malmes- 
bury) as to have averted a possible conflict with Germany. 

The political power of the Crown and its wearer is proven 
to exist in the dismissal of Lord Palmerston for his rash 
recognition of the French coup d'etat ; in the occasional exer- 
cise of the right of excluding certain individuals from the 
Government — notably the case of Mr. Labouchere a decade 
ago ; in such direct exercise of influence as the Queen's inter- 
vention in the matter of the Irish Church Disestablishment 



2o THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 

Bill as related by the late Archbishop Tait. The Imperial 
influence of the Sovereign has been shown in more than mere- 
ly indirect ways. The Queen's refusal to approve the first 
draft of the Royal Proclamation for India in 1858 and her 
changes in the text were declared by Lord Canning to have 
averted another insurrection. Her personal determination to 
send the Prince of Wales to Canada in i860 and her own visit 
to Ireland in one of the last years of her reign were cases of 
actual initiative and active policy. South Africa owed to the 
late Oueen the several visits of the Duke of Edinburgh and 
the exhibition of her well-known sympathy with the views of 
Sir George Grey — who, had he been allowed a free hand, would 
have consolidated and united those regions many years ago and 
averted the recent disastrous struggle. 

Australia owed to her the compliment of various visits 
from members of the Royal family, the kindly personal treat- 
ment of its leaders and a frequently expressed desire for its 
unity in one great and growing nationality — British in allegi- 
ance and connection and power; Australian in local authority, 
patriotism and development. India was indebted to its Queen- 
Empress for continued sympathy and wise advice to its Gov- 
ernors-General ; for the phraseology in the Proclamation after 
the Mutiny, already referred to, which rendered the new con- 
ditions of allegiance comprehensible and satisfactory to the 
native mind ; for the important visit of the Prince of Wales to 
that country in 1877 ; and for the support given to Lord Bea- 
confield's Imperial policy of asserting England's place in the 
world, of purchasing the Suez Canal shares in order to help in 
keeping the route to the East and of paving the way for that 
acquisition of Egypt and the Soudan which has since made 
Cecil Rhodes' dream of a great British-African empire a real- 
izable probability. The Colonies, as a whole, owed to Queen 
Victoria a condition of government which made peaceful 



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THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 21 

constitutional development possible ; which extinguished discon- 
tent and the elements or embers of republicanism ; which 
gradually eliminated the separative tendencies of distance and 
slowly merged the Manchester school ideas of the past into 
the Imperialism of the present ; which made evolution rather 
than revolution the guiding principle of British countries in 
the nineteenth century. 

THE MONARCHY IN HISTORY. 

How has the Crown become such an important factor in 
the modern development of British peoples ? The answer is 
not found altogether in personal considerations nor even in 
those of loyalty to somewhat vague and undefined principles 
of government. These considerations have had great weight 
but so also has the traditional and actual power of the Mon- 
archy in moulding institutions and ideas during a thousand 
years of history. To a much greater extent than is generally 
understood in these democratic days has this latter influence 
been a factor. Through nearly all British history the Sover- 
eign has either represented the popular instincts of the time 
or else led in the direction of extended territory and power 
under the individual influence of royal valour or statecraft. 
The history of England has not,of course, been confined to the 
biography of its Kings or Queens, but it would be as absurd 
to trace those annals without extended study of the rulers and 
their characters as it would be to write the records without 
reference to the people and popular progress. And the Mon- 
archy has done much for the British Isles. Its influence has 
effected their whole national life in war and in peace, in 
religion and in morals, in literature and in art. The individual 
achievements and actions of some of these rulers constitute 
the very foundation stones in the structure of modern British 
power. Others again have helped to build the walls of the 
national edifice until the Sovereign at the beginning of the 



22 THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 

twentieth century has become the pivot upon which turns the 
constitutional unity of a great Empire and which forms the 
only possible centre for a common allegiance amongst its varied 
peoples. 

At first this monarchical principle was embodied in the 
form of military power, was based upon feudal loyalty, and was 
associated with the noble ideals, but somewhat reckless prac- 
tices, of mediaeval chivalry. The victories of Egbert and 
Alfred the Great transformed the Heptarchy into a substantial 
English Kingdom. The military skill of William the Con- 
queror gave an opportunity to blend the graces of Norman 
chivalry, and a somewhat higher form of civilization, with the 
rougher virtues of the Saxon character. Henry II. personally 
illustrated this combination, with his ruddy English face and 
strong physical powers, and impressed himself upon British 
history by the conquest of Ireland. Richard Cceur de Lion 
gave his country many famous pages of crusading in the East, 
and embodied in his life and character the adventurous and 
daring spirit of the age. Edward I. dominated events by his 
energy and ability, subdued Wales, and for a time conquered 
the Kingdom of Scotland. Edward III., in his long reign of 
fifty years, carried the British flag over the fields of France, 
and won immortality at the battles of Crecy and Poictiers. 
Henry V. gained the victory of Agincourt, and won and wore 
the title of King of France. Then came the Wars of the 
Roses and the turbulent termination to a period of six cen- 
turies during which the English Monarchs had represented the 
military spirit of their times, and had led in the rough process 
of struggle and conquest out of which was growing the United 
Kingdom of to-day. 

With the reign of Henry VIII. commenced the period of 
religious change — the struggles for religious liberty against 
ecclesiastical dominance. Limited as were the achievements 
of Henry and Elizabeth, in this respect, by prevailing bigotry 



THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 23 

and narrowness of view as well as by diverse personal charac- 
teristics, they none the less did great service to the country 
and the people. The rule of Cromwell — who, in the exercise 
of Royal power and the possession of regal personal ability, 
may properly be included in such a connection — gave that 
liberty of worship to a portion of the masses with which pre- 
vious Sovereigns had more especially endowed the classes. 
During the reign of the Stuarts religious dissensions and 
ecclesiastical controversies and intermittent persecutions, illus- 
trated the predominant passion. of the period; and forced the 
weak or indifferent monarch of the moment to be an uncon- 
scious factor in the progress towards that general toleration 
which the Revolution of 1688 and the crowning of William 
and Mary finally accomplished. But, whether it was Henry 
persecuting the monks, or Elizabeth the Roman Catholics, or 
Mary the Protestants, or Cromwell the Episcopalians, or 
Charles II. the Dissenters, each ruler was being- led, to a great 
degree, by the undercurrent of surrounding bigotry and was, 
in the main, representative of a strong, popular sentiment of 
the time. Henry voiced the national uprising against Rome, 
just as the second Charles embodied popular reaction against 
the Puritans, and as William of Orange was enabled to lead a 
successful opposition to the gloomy and personal bigotry of 
the last of the Royal Stuarts. 

The third period of British monarchical history in this 
connection was that marked by the growth toward constitu- 
tional government under the sway of the House of Hanover. 
Coupled with this was the equally important foundation of a 
great Colonial empire, and the loss of a large portion of it in 
the reign of George III. But the development of constitu- 
tional rule under the Georges should not be confounded with 
the growth of the popular and Imperial system which exists 
to-day. The latter is simply a progressive evolution out of the 
aristocratic* and oligarchical government of the Hanoverian 



2 4 THE CRO WN AND THE EMPIRE 

period, just as that system had been a step from the kingly 
power of the Tudors and the Stuarts, which, in turn, had arisen 
upon the ruins of feudalism and military monarchical power. 
It is this gradual growth, this "gently broadening down from 
precedent to precedent," which makes the British constitution 
of to-day the more or less perfected result of centuries of ' 
experience and struggle. But that result has only been made 
possible by a peculiar series of national adjustments in which 
the power of the Monarchs has been modified from time to 
time to suit the will of the people, while the ability of individ- 
ual Sovereigns has been at the same time given full scope in 
which to exercise wise kingcraft or pronounced military skill. 
It has, in fact, been a most elastic system in its application and 
to that elasticity has been due its prolonged stability of form 
under a succession of dynastic or personal changes. 

THE CONSTITUTION AND THE MONARCHY. 

It is a common mistake to minimize the importance and 
value of the aristocratic rule by which the government of 
England was graded down from the high exercise of royal 
power under the Tudors and Stuarts to that beneficial exercise 
of royal influence which marks the opening of the present cen- 
tury period. To the aristocracy of those two centuries is 
mainly due the fact that the growth from paternal government 
and personal rule to direct popular administration was a grad- 
ual development, through only occasional scenes of storm and 
stress, instead of involving a succession of revolutions alter- 
nating with civil war. Somers and Godolphin, Walpole and 
Chatham, Pitt and Shelburne, Eldon and Canning, Grey and 
Liverpool, Wellington and Durham, Melbourne and Palmer- 
ston, were all of this aristocratic class, though of varying 
decrees in rank and title and with varied views of politics. 
They filled the chief places in the Government of the country 
during a period when the people were being slowly trained in 



THE CRO WN AND THE EMPIRE 25 

the perception and practice of constitutional and religious lib- 
erty. At the best such processes are difficult and often prove 
bitter tests of national endurance ; and it was well for Great 
Britain that the two centuries under review produced a class 
of able and cultured men who — though naturally aristocratic 
at heart — were upon the whole honestly bent upon furthering 
the best interests of the masses. And this despite the mistakes 
of a Danby or a North. 

Yet, even towards the close of this period of preparation, 
popular government, as now practised, was neither understood 
by the immediate predecessors of Queen Victoria, nor by the 
nobles who presided over the changing administrations of the 
day. It was not clearly comprehended by Liberals like Russell 
and Grey ; it was feared by Wellington and the Tories as being 
republican and revolutionary ; it was dreaded by many who 
could hardly be called Tories and who, in the condition of 
things then prevalent, could scarcely even be termed Loyalists. 
Writing in 18 12, Charles Knight, the historian, described the 
fierce national struggle of the previous twenty years with 
Napoleon and expressed a longing wish for the prop of a sin- 
cere and spontaneous loyalty to the throne in the critical times 
that were to follow. But such a sentiment of loyalty was not 
then expressed, and could hardly have been publicly evoked 
by a ruler of the type of George IV., whether governing as 
Prince-Regent or as King. 

There is, however, no doubt of its having existed, and 
there seems to have been, even through those troubled years, 
an inborn spirit of loyalty to the Crown as being the symbol 
of the State and of public order. Its wearer might make mis- 
takes and be personally unpopular, but he represented the 
nation as a whole and must consequently be respected. This 
powerful feeling has often in English history made the bravest 
and strongest submit to slights from their Sovereign, and has 
won the most disinterested devotion and energetic action from 



26 THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 

men who have never even seen the Monarch in whose personal 
character there was sometimes little to evoke or deserve such 
faith and sacrifice. For ages this loyalty had been the preser- 
vative of society in England, and it is still indispensable to the 
tranquility and permanence of a state, whether given in its full 
degree to the Sovereign of Great Britain, or in a more divided 
sense to the elective and partisan head of a modern republic. 
In the time of the Georges, as well as in the middle ages 
and at the present moment, loyalty was and is a sincere and 
honest patriotism, refining the instincts and elevating the 
actions of those who were willing to waive self-interest on any 
given occasion in order to guard what they believed to be the 
true basis of national stability and order. Certainly, a Mon- 
archy which could survive the wars and European revolutions, 
the internal discontents and personal deficiencies, of the period 
which commenced with the reign of George I. and closed with 
that of William IV., must have possessed some inherent 
strength greater than may be gathered from many of the 
superficial works which pass for history. But, whatever that 
influence was, it does not appear to have been personal. With 
the close of the reign of Queen Anne the brilliant prestige of 
personal authority and power wielded by the Sovereign had 
passed quietly away and, up to the death of William IV. and 
the accession of Victoria, had not been replaced by the per- 
sonal influence of a constitutional ruler. 

PRESENT POSITION OF THE MONARCHY. 

Out of all these changing developments has come a mili- 
tary position in which the Sovereign no longer leads his forces 
in war but in which he commands a sentiment of loyalty as 
hearty, in the breasts of the Colonial soldiers ten thousand 
miles away from his home at Windsor, as ever did the personal 
presence of an Edward I., or a Richard the Lion-Hearted. 
Out of them has come a religious position in which the 
Sovereign is head of a particular Church and yet, as such, gives 



THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 27 

no serious offence to masses of his subjects who belong to other 
faiths and who receive through his Governments around the 
world absolute freedom of religious worship — almost as a 
matter of course. Out of the constitutional evolution has 
come the adaptation of the Monarchy to not only new condi- 
tions but to countries separated by oceans and continents from 
the mother-state, and the evolution of a system which com- 
bines 420,000,000 people under one Crown and one flag. In 
August, 1884, the Times spoke of a correspondent amongst 
the Khirgese of Central Asia who stated that the people of 
that region had not the remotest idea of where or what Eng- 
land was — but they had heard of Queen Victoria ; and a few 
years later Mr. Henry Labouchere, the inconsistent and bitter 
Radical, told the Forum of New York that " were a Parlia- 
mentary candidate to address an electoral meeting on the 
advantages of a republic he would be deemed a tilter at a 
windmill." 

Such is a summary of the history and position of the 
British Monarchy. A thousand years ago it combined the 
seven little Kingdoms of England into one ; to-day it com- 
bines the Kingdoms and Dominions and Commonwealths 
and Islands of a quarter of the earth's surface into one. The 
power of the Crown was once chiefly employed in making war 
and compelling peace by force of arms and military skill ; 
to-day it is largely utilized in promoting peace and controlling 
diplomacy. The position of the Monarch was once that of 
the head of a class, or the leader of some distinct manifesta- 
tion of public feeling, or the military chief of a great faction ; 
to-day it is that of embodying the power of a united people, 
giving dignified interpretation to the policy of a nation, and 
serving as the symbol of unity to the masses of population in 
an extended empire. 

One of the interesting features in the Crown's popularity 
and influence is the absence of serious criticism or controversy 



28 THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 

over the expense of its maintenance. Perhaps the only prac- 
tical expression of disapproval affecting the Monarchy heard 
during Queen Victoria's long reign was an occasional grumb- 
ling as to the paucity of Court functions, the absence of Royal 
splendour and expenditures from the City of London, the 
sombreness and quiet which characterized the ordinary, every- 
day life of the Sovereign. The total financial cost of the 
Monarchy has been placed at a million pounds sterling per 
annum, but this total includes various large sums which could 
just as properly be charged to the ordinary governing require- 
ments of the country without reference to the particular form 
of its institutions. Against this sum may also be placed the 
proceeds of the Crown Lands which were surrendered to 
Parliament upon the accession of William and Mary and which 
had before that been recognized as a personal estate of the 
Sovereign over which Parliament had no control. In addition 
to these Crown Land revenues other sums were voted as 
required. Upon their surrender to the nation (during the life 
of each Sovereign) it has become the custom, since 1868, to 
vote a permanent Civil List for the ensuing reign and out of 
this sum the ordinary Court and personal expenses are sup- 
posed to be met. In the case of Queen Victoria the amount 
was ,£385,000 a year, supplemented, however, by other votes 
and special allowances to herself and the Royal family from 
time to time. 

Upon her accession the Queen retained out of the old 
Crown Lands, or revenues, those of the Duchy of Lancaster 
and they have risen in value from ,£20,000 to ,£50,000 per 
annum. The Royal palaces are maintained apart from the 
Civil List and the building of Royal yachts and other similar 
expenses are considered as additional items. The revenues of 
the Duchy of Cornwall, which have always pertained to the 
Prince of Wales, and the incomes or special sums voted to the 
members of the Royal family, make up an amount nearly as 



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THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 29 

large as the Civil List. But these apparently large sums have 
not in recent years created any feeling of dissatisfaction ; nor 
has any been expressed save by certain individuals of the 
Labouchere type, who possess little influence and less sin- 
cerity. Upon the whole the situation in this connection pos- 
sesses considerable interest to the student of history, or of 
popular sentiment, as showing how a practical, business-loving, 
money-making people can become devoted to an institution 
which must in the nature of things be expensive and which, in 
the ratio of its dignity and effectiveness as an embodiment of 
growing national power, must be increasingly so as the years 
roll on. 

The reason for this condition of feeling is the combination 
which the Monarchy has during the past century come to 
present to the minds of the public. Tradition and history 
reaching down into the hearts and lives of the people may be 
considered the basic influence ; a general belief in the superi- 
ority of British institutions over all others may be stated as a 
powerful conservative force ; while personality and character 
in the Sovereign may be described as the chief constructive 
element in this process of increasing loyalty to the Crown. 
Convenience, custom, love of ceremony, belief in stability and 
aversion to change, are lesser factors which may be mentioned. 
The result is that Mr. George W. Smalley, for so many years 
the American correspondent of the New York Tribune in Lon- 
don, could write recently in theCentury the belief of a foreigner 
and a republican that " England is a very democratic country, 
but there does not exist in England the vestige of a republican 
party." 

King Edward has, therefore, come to the throne of Great 
Britain and its Empire at a time when the influence of the 
Sovereign is growing in proportion as the influence and popu- 
larity of Parliament appears to be waning. Fifty years before 
his accesion it was a truism to assert that power in England 



30 THE CROWN AND THE EMPIRE 

was being steadily concentrated in the House of Commons • 
to-day it may be said with equal truth that the position of the 
Crown is growing steadily in a power which is wielded by per- 
sonal influence and popularity and which, while it touches no 
privilege, nor right, nor liberty of Parliament, increases in pro- 
portion as the latter body is relegated to the back-ground by 
public opinion and popular interest. Vast responsibility, 
therefore, rests to-day in the hands of a British Sovereign and 
the results for good or ill, depend largely upon his character, 
his training, his previous career and his present sense of duty. 
Alarm has even been expressed upon this point by historic 
theorists such as Professor Beesly and Dr. Goldwin Smith. 
Certain it is, however, that in the hands of King Edward this 
growing power is safe, if prolonged experience and natural 
statecraft and intimate knowledge of his people can be con- 
sidered sufficient guarantees for its exercise. 



CHAPTER II. 

Early Years and Education of the Prince 

THE married life of Queen Victoria and the Prince Con- 
sort was one of the happiest recorded in history or 
known in the private annals of individual lives. It was 
a love-match from the first and it lasted to the end as one 
of those beautiful illustrations of harmony in the home which 
go far in a materialistic and selfish age to point to higher 
ideals and to conserve the best principles of a Christian people. 
His affection was shown in myriad ways of devoted care and 
help ; her feeling was well stated in a letter to Baron Stock- 
mar — ■" There cannot exist a purer, dearer, nobler being in the 
world than the Prince." From such a union was born Albert 
Edward, the future King and Emperor, on November 9th, 
1841. The Queen's first child had been the Princess Royal, 
and there was naturally some hope that the next would be 
a male heir to the Throne. There was much public rejoicing 
over the event which was announced from Buckingham Palace 
at mid-day of the date mentioned ; the Privy Council met and 
ordered a thanksgiving service ; the national anthem was sung 
with enthusiasm in the theatres and public places ; telegrams 
of congratulation poured in from Princes abroad and peers and 
peasants at home ; and Punch perpetrated verses which well 
illustrated the public feeling : 

" Huzza ! we've a little Prince at last 
A roaring Royal boy ; 
And all day long the booming bells 
Have rung their peels of joy." 

3 1 



32 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 

On December 8th following, the little Prince was created 
by letters-patent Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester — the 
titles of Prince of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland, Duke of Saxony, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Roth- 
esay, Earl of Carrick, Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and 
Prince, or Great Steward of Scotland, being his already by 
virtue of his mother being the reigning Sovereign at the time 
of his birth. During six hundred years there had been from 
time to time a Prince of Wales. The first was the son of 
Edward I., but the title was never made hereditary, and there 
have been periods, totalling altogether 288 years, in which it 
lay dormant. The Black Prince was perhaps the best known 
of the line. The new Prince of Wales — destined to hold 
the designation for nearly sixty years and to make it one of 
the best known in the world — was solemnly baptized on January 
25th, 1842, in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, by the simple 
names of Albert Edward. The first was after his father, the 
second in memory of the Queen's father, the Duke of Kent. 
The scene was one of splendour, and the uniforms and glitter- 
ing orders and gleaming gems and beautiful dresses harmonized 
well with the stately setting of the Chapel Royal. 

THE GORGEOUS CHRISTENING CEREMONY 

Besides the Royal party, which included Frederick William 
IV., King of Prussia, there were a throng of Ambassadors, 
Knights of the Garter, Members of the Privy Council, Peers 
and Peeresses, statesmen and heads of the Church. The 
Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of London, 
Winchester, Oxford and Norwich were in special attendance, 
and the sponsors for the young Prince were the King of 
Prussia, the Duchess of Kent (proxy for the Duchess of Saxe- 
Cobourg), the Duke of Cambridge (proxy for the Duchess of 
Saxe-Gotha), Princess Augusta of Cambridge (proxy for Princess 
Sophia) and Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Cobourg. The cost of 



EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 33 

this gorgeous christening ceremony and attendant functions 
was said to have been fully two million dollars. A part of 
this was, however, due to the entertainments accorded King 
Frederick William IV., who, as the chief Protestant monarch 
of the Continent, was given a particularly cordial and elaborate 
welcome. In connection with the christening of the future 
King it is interesting to note that an ecclesiastical newspaper, 
of Toronto, called The Church, referred to the event on 
March 19th, 1842, and declared that should the Prince live to 
be King he would be known as Edward VII. On February 
3rd Queen Victoria opened Parliament in person with the fol- 
lowing as the preliminary words in the Speech from the 
Throne : " I cannot meet you in Parliament assembled without 
making a public acknowledgment of my gratitude to Almighty 
God on account of the birth of the Prince, my son ; an event 
which has completed the measure of my domestic happiness 
and has been hailed with every manifestation of affectionate 
attachment to my person and Government by my faithful and 
loyal people." 

CHILDHOOD OF THE PRINCE. 

The early events of the Prince's life were followed with 
much interest by the public and with a personal and individual 
feeling which grew in volume with the ever-increasing popu- 
larity of the young Queen. The Court in those years was a 
gay one and events such as the Queen's famous Plantagenet 
Ball of 1842 ; the state visit to King Louis Philippe of France 
in 1843; tne coming of Nicholas I., Czar of all the Russias, 
to the Court of St. James in 1844, followed a little later by 
William, Prince of Prussia — afterwards William I. of Ger- 
many, and by a return visit of the King and Queen of the 
French ; kept the social demands of the period up to a very 
high pitch. Yet the quiet, careful surroundings of an almost 
ideal home were given to the young Prince and to those who^ 
afterwards came to the family circle, by a mother who, in the 



34 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 

midst of many national cares and private anxieties could write 
to her much-respected friend and uncle — Leopold of Belgium 
— that " my happiness at home, the love of my husband, his 
kindness, his advice, his support and his company make up for 
all and make me forget all." 

The Princess Victoria, afterwards for a brief year Empress • 
of Germany, had been born on November 21, 1840; the 
Prince of Wales was the next child ; the Princess Alice, who 
afterwards married the Grand Duke of Hesse, was born on 
April 25, 1843; Prince Alfred — Duke of Edinburgh and of 
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in later years — followed on August 6, 
1844; the Princess Helena came next on May 25, 1846, and 
afterwards became the wife of Prince Christian of Schleswig- 
Holstein ; the Princess Louise, who married the Marquess of 
Lome and future Duke of Argyll, was born on March 18, 
1848; Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, followed on May 
1, 1850; Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, on April 7, 
1853; Princess Beatrice, afterwards wife and widow of Prince 
Henry of Battenberg, was born on April 14, 1857, and com- 
pleted the Royal family for the time. 

The greatest care and attention was given to the youth- 
ful Prince. Writing to King Leopold soon after his birth— 
on December 7, 1841 — the Queen had said: " I wonder very 
much who my little boy will be like. You will understand 
how fervent are my prayers, and I am sure every one's must 
be, to see him resemble his father in every respect, both in 
body and mind." From the earliest period the child grew into 
his life of ceremony and state, but it was a process carefully 
graded to suit the development of natural faculties. Nothing 
appears to have been allowed to unduly burden his gradual 
growth in experience and knowledge and certainly a more 
pleasant domestic environment and life could hardly be 
imagined. At a later period his studies were so varied in 
character as to excite some slight apprehension in a part of 
the public mind. 



EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 35 

The first public appearance of the Prince was on February 
4, 1842, when the Queen was inspecting some troops near 
Windsor and the babe was held up by his nurse from a window 
of the Castle so that the crowd could see him. He has been 
described in many prints and stories as being a very lively 
infant and child. Lady Lyttelton*, a sister to Mrs. Glad- 
stone, was in charge of the Royal nursery as a sort of trusted 
Governess during the first six years of his life and everything 
was conducted with regularity and care. The Queen per- 
sonally supervised the arrangements, whether for instruction, 
pleasure or exercise, though she often had to express in diary 
or letter her regret at not being able to be as much with her 
children as she desired. Simplicity was, perhaps, the guiding 
principle of this early training, though it was combined with a 
certain amount of familiarity in matters of ceremony and for- 
mality. In September, 1843, when the Queen and Prince 
Consort were in France the Royal children were at Brighton 
in charge of Lady Lyttelton and the people used to take great 
delight in waiting for the daily outing of the little Prince and 
his sister and the presentation of a loyal salute by the raising 
of hats and the waving of handkerchiefs. The child had been 
taught to raise his chubby fist to his forehead in reply and a 
journalist of the time veraciously declares that he did it with 
" evident enjoyment and infantile dignity." A little later, on 
December 20th, a party of nine Ojibbeway Indians were pre- 
sented to the Queen at Windsor Castle and the Chief gravely 
referred to the toddling Royal infant in his speech as " the 
very big little White Father whose eyes are like the sky that 
sees all things and who is fat with goodness like a winter 
bear." 

Another attractive event in these annals of childhood was 
a visit of Tom Thumb to Buckingham Palace on March 23, 

♦Sarah, Lady Lyttelton, daughter of the second Earl Spencer and wife of the third Lord Lyttelton. 
Born 1787, Died 1870. 



36 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 

1844. Not long afterwards, on June 5th, the little Prince saw 
his first Review, on the occasion of the Emperor of Russia's 
visit, and clapped his hands and shouted at the splendid spec- 
tacle. On March 24, 1846, he was given that first and greatest 
pleasure of all children, a visit to the circus (Astley's). He 
applauded liberally and when the clown was brought to the 
Royal box at his request, the little Prince gravely shook hands 
with him and thanked him " for making me laugh so much." 
Similar stories might be multiplied in many pages. Every 
trifling incident of the Royal childhood seems, indeed, to have 
been treasured by some one. Late in 1846 a visit was made 
on the Victoria and Albert yacht to the coast of Cornwall and, 
after the landing, the Royal party went to Penrhyn where the 
little Prince, as Duke of Cornwall, was formally welcomed by 
Mayor and Corporation as their feudal lord. In August of 
the succeeding year he was taken by the Queen and Prince 
Consort on a tour around the west coast of Scotland and dur- 
ing a visit to Cluny Macpherson's Scottish home, he received 
one of the first of a multitude of interesting presents — a ring 
containing a miniature of Prince Charles Stuart. In August 
1844, he accompanied his parents on a visit to Ireland, where 
he met with splendid acclamation from the people and was 
created Earl of Dublin by the Queen. It has been said that 
the reception was so enthusiastic as to have left a profound 
impression on the child's mind. 

On October 30, 1849, when nearly eight years old, the 
Prince of Wales performed his first public function. Accom- 
panied by the little Princess Royal and his father he pro- 
ceeded in state from Westminister in a Royal barge rowed by 
watermen. All London turned out to see the youthful royal- 
ties — " Puss and the boy" as the Queen called them in her 
Diary — and Lady Lyttelton in a letter to Mrs. Gladstone has 
left a charming picture of the pleasure expressed by the little 
Prince at his reception and at the various quaint customs 



EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 37 

revived for the occasion. It was at this time that Miss Louisa 
Alcott, author of Little Women, wrote home that the Prince 
was "a yellow-haired laddie, very like his mother. Fanny and 
I nodded and waived as he passed and he openly winked his 
boyish eye at us, for Fanny with her yellow curls waving looked 
rather rowdy and the poor little Prince wanted some fun." 
Two years later, on May 1st, the youthful Heir to the Throne 
assisted the Queen at the brilliant ceremonies attending the 
opening of the first and great Exhibition of that year. 

EARLY EDUCATION OF THE PRINCE. 

Meanwhile, the important matter of education had been 
occupying the attention of the Queen and her husband. After 
careful inquiry during nearly a year the Rev. Henry Mildred 
Birch was selected and on April 10, 1844, the Prince Consort 
wrote, in a private and family letter, that " Bertie will be given 
over in a few weeks into the hands of a tutor whom we have 
found in Mr. Birch, a young, good-looking, amiable man who 
was a tutor at Eton and who not only himself took the highest 
honours at Cambridge but whose pupils have also won special 
distinction. It is an important step and God's blessing be 
upon it, for upon the good education of princes and especially 
of those who are destined to govern, the welfare of the world 
in these days very greatly depends." This gentleman acted 
until 1852 when, upon the advice of Sir James Stephen, the 
appointment was given to Mr. Frederick W. Gibbs, who 
retained it for the succeeding six years. In special lines of 
study such as Art and Music there were various instructors for 
the young Prince as well as for the rest of the family — the 
Rev. Charles Tarver being his classical tutor, Sir Edwin Land- 
seer an instructor in the art of painting and Mr. E. H. Cor- 
bould his teacher in water-colours. 

The descriptions of the Prince of Wales in these child- 
hood days vary greatly ; probably in natural accordance with 



3 8 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 

the variable temperament of his age. Lady Lyttelton who, 
perhaps, knew him best, described him to Mr. Greville in 1852 
— though that interesting litterateur is not always reliable — as 
being "extremely shy and timid, with very good principles and, 
particularly, an exact observer of truth." The description is, 
however, so much in harmony with his bringing up that it may . 
well be accepted as accurate. These years, however, passed 
rapidly away in a commingling of instruction, ceremonial and 
innocent recreation. The Baroness Bunsen in her Memoirs 
gives a pleasant picture which illustrates the character of the 
amusements current in the Royal family at their different 
homes at Windsor, Osborne, or Balmoral. This particular 
incident was a Masque devised by the children, when Prince 
" Bertie" was twelve years old, in honour of the anniversary 
of their parents' marriage. The Prince who represented Win- 
ter and was clad in a coat covered with imitation icicles, recited 
some verses from Thomson's Seasons. Princess Alice was 
Spring ; the Princess Royal, Summer ; Prince Alfred, Autumn ; 
while Princess Helena, representing St. Helena, the traditional 
mother of Constantine and native of Britain, called down 
Heaven's benediction upon the Royal couple. 

About this time the Prince of Wales made his first 
appearance in the House of Lords, sitting beside the Queen 
as she received Addresses from Parliament concerning the 
impending war with Russia. He seems to have taken a keen 
interest in that conflict and, in March 1855, went with his 
parents to visit the wounded at Chatham Military Hospital. 
In August he accompanied the Queen and Prince Consort 
upon the first visit paid by an English Sovereign to Paris since 
the days of Henry II. and shared in the splendid reception 
given by the Emperor Napoleon and the French people. Even 
here, however, his tutor was with him and idleness or pleasure 
was not allowed to occupy the field entirely. With the Prin- 
cess Royal, he was present at a splendid ball given in 



EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 39 

Versailles — the first since the days of Louis XVI — and they sat 
down at supper with the Emperor and Empress. The 
young Prince enjoyed the visit so much and liked his Imperial 
hosts so well — a liking which he never forgot in later years of 
sorrow and suffering — that he begged the Empress to get 
leave for his sister and himself to stay a little longer. The 
Queen and his father, he explained, had six more children at 
home and they could, he thought, do without them for a 
while. 

Of course, this was not possible. The Prince Consort, 
however, was greatly pleased with the way in which the chil- 
dren had behaved and wrote to Baron Stockmar, shortly after, 
expressing his belief that the Prince had been a general 
favourite. To the Duchess of Kent he wrote that " the task 
was no easy one for them but they discharged it without 
embarassment and with natural simplicity." From this it is 
evident that the shyness spoken of by Lady Lyttelton had 
largely passed away from the manner of the Prince. During 
this year the latter — now fourteen years old — took an incog- 
nito walking tour through the west of England accompanied 
by Mr. Gibbs and Colonel Cavendish. The next two or three 
years were spent in a happy life of mixed pursuits in England 
and Scotland, or in travel abroad, alternating, according to the 
place and season, between fishing and shooting, ponies and 
picnics, deer-stalking and juvenile dances, studies, tours and 
occasional functions. Many pictures of the Royal family in 
these days of childhood and youth have been preserved from 
the brushes of Winterhalter, Richmond, Landseer, Saul and 
others. 

LATER EDUCATION OF THE PRINCE. 

Not the least important of the educative influences of 
this period were the tours undertaken by the young Prince. 
In the autumn of 1856, accompanied by those who could best 
instruct him in the matters witnessed, he visited the great 



4 o EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 

seats of industry in Provincial England including mills, iron- 
works, coal mines and engineering centres. In April 1857 he 
enjoyed a tour through the beautiful Lake region and espe- 
cially appreciated the hill-climbing in Cumberland. During 
June he accompanied the Queen on a state visit to Manchester 
and witnessed the first distribution of the Victoria Cross 
medals in Hyde Park, London. In July the Prince left England 
for Konigswinter with a short European tour in view for 
" purposes of study," as the Prince Consort put it in a private 
letter. With him were General Grey, Colonel (afterwards 
Sir Henry) Ponsonby, his tutors and Dr. Armstrong. During 
the tour several young men joined him as companions — 
the late Mr. W. H. Gladstone ; Mr. Charles Wood, now 
Lord Halifax ; Mr. Frederick Stanley, now Earl of Derby 
and Governor-General of Canada ; and the present Earl 
Cadogan, Viceroy of Ireland. The Prince on this occasion 
went up the Rhine and through Germany and Switzerland. 
Upon his return, in October, he attended lectures on science 
by Dr. Faraday while continuing his regular studies. Early 
in the succeeding year he attended the marriage of his sister, 
the Princess Royal, to the Prussian Prince who afterwards 
became the Emperor Frederick, and parted from the sister 
" Vicky," to whom he was much attached, with evident sorrow. 
On April 1, 1858, when nearly seventeen years of age, 
the Prince was confirmed in the Chapel Royal at Windsor. 
Writino- of this ceremony, the Prince Consort observed to 
Baron Stockmar that Lord Derby, Lord Palmerston and Lord 
John Russell were amongst those who were present and that 
the event "went off with great solemnity and, I hope, with an 
abiding impression on his mind." At the examination before 
the Archbishop of Canterbury and his Royal parents the 
Prince was described as acquitting himself " extremely well." 
On the succeeding day he took the Sacrament. Shortly after- 
wards followed a two weeks walking tour in the south of Ireland 



EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 41 

in which the Prince was accompanied by Mr. Gibbs, Captain 
de Ros — afterwards Lieutenant-General Lord de Ros — 
and Dr. Minter. Succeeding- this came a short period of 
steady study and the formal establishment of the young 
Prince at White Lodge in Richmond Park, under the tuition 
of Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Tarver and with three companions care- 
fully selected by his father — Lord Valletort, the present (1902) 
Earl of Mount Edgecumbe, Major Teesdale V. C. and Major 
Lindsay V. C. Of the first named the Prince Consort wrote 
privately that he had been much on the Continent and was "a 
thoroughly good, moral and accomplished man," who had 
passed his youth in attendance on his invalid father. He also 
referred to the manner in which Major Teesdale had distin- 
guished himself at Kars and Major Lindsay at Alma and 
Inkerman and of the latter said : " He is studious in his habits, 
lives little with the other young officers, is fond of study and 
familiar with French and Italian."* These considerations are 
interesting as indicating with what care the companions of the 
young Prince were selected by his wise father from time to 
time. Here the Prince had, amongst his elements of instruc- 
tion, lectures on History from the Rev. Charles Kingsley, the 
well-known author of Westward Ho and, for ten years follow- 
ing, Professor of History at Cambridge. They were given by 
special desire of the Queen and must have proved deeply 
interesting. Canon Kingsley was, during the rest of his life, 
an object of special liking to the Prince and always an honoured 
guest at Sandringham and Marlborough. 

On November 9, 1859, the Prince of Wales completed 
his eighteenth year and attained his legal majority. The 
Queen wrote him a letter which Charles Greville, in his Diary, 
describes as "one of the most admirable ever penned." On 
the same day he was appointed a Colonel in the Army and 

* This officer afterwards became Major-General Sir C. C. Teesdale V. C, K. C. M. G., C. B. and was 
A. D. C. to the Queen in 1877-87. Major Lindsay was better known in later years as Colonel Sir Robert 
Lloyd-Lindsay K. C. B. In 1885 he was raised to the Peerage as Lord Wantage, 



42 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 

given the Order of the Garter — that most distinguished of all 
orders of knighthood. At the same time Colonel the Hon. 
Robert Bruce, brother of the Lord Elgin who had proved so 
successful a Governor-General of Canada and India, was 
appointed Governor to the Prince and was described by the 
Prince Consort as possessing amiability with great mildness of 
expression and as being "full of ability." He had been Mili- 
tary Secretary to Lord Elgin in Canada and was at this time 
in command of a battalion in the Grenadier Guards.* A 
month later the Prince started on a Continental tour accom- 
panied by the Rev. Mr. Tarver as his chaplain and director of 
studies. He stayed some time in Rome, where he visited the 
Pope, on May 7 reached Gibraltar, and from thence visited 
the south of Spain and Lisbon. He reached home in the 
middle of June and took up a serious course of study at Edin- 
burgh, with the late Lord Playfairas hisinstructor in chemistry, 
and with other equally distinguished teachers in specific lines 
or subjects. The public was at this time taking much interest 
in these studies of the Heir Apparent and fear was expressed 
that he might, perhaps, be over-educated. Punch expressed 
this feeling- in the following lines : 

" To the south from the north, from the shores of the Forth, 
Where at hands Presbyterian pure science is quaffed, 
The Prince, in a trice, is whipped to the Isis, 
Where Oxford keeps springs mediaeval on draught. 



Dipped in grey Oxford mixture (lest that be a fixture), 
The poor lad's to be plunged in less orthodox Cam., 
Where dynamics and statics, and pure mathematics, 
Will be piled on his brain's awful cargo of cram." 

After three months of Edinburgh training the Prince 
Consort went down and held a sort of conference with the 



*He afterwards became a Major-General in the Army and died in 1862 of fever caught while with the 
Prince of Wales during his Eastern tour. 



EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 43 

teachers. He wrote as to the result* that they all spoke highly 
of their pupil, who seemed to have shown zeal and goodwill. 
" Dr. Lyon Playfair is giving him lectures on chemistry in 
relation to manufactures and, at the close of each special course, 
he visits the appropriate manufactory with him so as to explain 
its practical application. Dr. Schmitz gives him lectures on 
Roman history. Italian, German and French are advanced at 
the same time ; and three times a week the Prince exercises 
with the 1 6th Hussars who are stationed in the city." It was 
of this period that Sir Wemyss Reid, in his biography of Lord 
Playfair, tells an amusing story. The Prince and Dr. Playfair 
were standing near a cauldron containing lead which was boil- 
ing at white heat. " Has Your Royal Highness any faith in 
science " said the Professor and the reply was, "Certainly." The 
latter then carefully washed the Prince's hand with ammonia 
and said: 

" Will you now place your hand in this boiling metal and 
ladle out a portion of it ?" 

" Do you tell me to do this?" asked the Prince. 

The answer was in the affirmative and the Prince instantly 
put his hand into the boiling mass and ladled out some of it 
without sustaining any injury. Following this period of study 
at Edinburgh University came the celebration of the Prince's 
nineteenth birthday and a hunting party in the Highlands. 
Thence the Prince went to Oxford for a time and was admitted 
a member of Christ Church College where he joined freely in 
the social life and sports of the institution. On January 16, 
1 86 1, after his return from Canada, he became an under-orad- 
uate of Trinity College, Cambridge, and was allowed, by spec- 
ial favour, to live in a neighbouring village with his Governor — 
Colonel Bruce. Here lectures were again given to the Prince 
by Canon Kingsley and the young man was kept pretty close 
to his studies during the winter of that year. In the summer 

*Martin*s Life of the Prince Consort, 



44 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 

he went on military duty in Ireland and the Queen thus 
recorded in her Diary a visit paid to him at Curragh on August 
26th : "At a little before three we went to Bertie's hut which 
is, in fact, Sir George Brown's. It is very comfortable — a nice 
little bedroom, sittincr-room, drawing-room, and a good sized 
dining-room where we lunched, with our whole party. Col.- 
Percy commands the Guards and Bertie is placed specially 
under him. I spoke to him and thanked him for treating 
Bertie as he did, just like any other officer, for I know that he 
keeps him up to his work in a way, as General Bruce told me, 
that no one else had done ; and yet Bertie likes him very 
much." 

DEATH OF THE PRINCE CONSORT. 

This was the last birthday of the Prince Consort and it 
was spent travelling to Killarney with the Queen, the Prince of 
Wales and the younger members of the Royal family. A few 
days there and then the young Prince returned to camp. In 
the autumn he visited the Rhine manoeuvres of the German 
army and met his future bride, the Princess Alexandra. He 
then returned to Cambridge and from thence journeyed in 
haste to Windsor on December 1 3th to be present at his father's 
death-bed on the following evening. No sadder event has 
occurred in the history of English royalty than this premature 
and much-mourned death of the good and really great Prince 
Consort. To the young Heir Apparent it meant the loss of a 
loving father, a careful guardian, a watchful and wise adviser. 
To the wife and widow it meant the ruin of a great happiness 
and a sorrow which no passing years could ever remove. Sir 
Theodore Martin's beautiful description of the scene at the 
death-bed, at which knelt the Queen, the Princess Alice, the 
Princess Helena and the Prince of Wales, may well be given 
here: " In the solemn hush of that mournful chamber there 
was such grief as has rarely hallowed any death-bed. A great 
light, which had blessed the world, and which the mourners 



EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 45 

had but yesterday hoped might long bless it, was waning fast 
away. A husband, a father, a friend, a master, endeared by 
every quality by which man in such relations can win the love 
of his fellow-man, was passing into the Silent Land, and his 
loving glance, his wise counsels, his firm, manly thought should 
be known among them no more. The Castle clock chimed 
the third quarter after ten. Calm and peaceful grew the 
beloved form ; the features settled into the beauty of a per- 
fectly serene repose ; two or three long, but gentle breaths 
were drawn ; and that great soul had fled to seek a nobler 
scope for its aspirations in the world within the veil, for which 
it had often yearned, where there is rest for the weary, and 
where 'the spirits of the just are made perfect.'' 

Not long before his death the Prince Consort had readily 
agreed to his son's wish for a visit to the Holy Land and had 
planned the preliminaries of the tour before he was stricken 
by the dis'ease which carried him off. After that sad event it 
was felt by the Queen that such a journey would now be 
doubly wise and proper and she made arrangements for 
General Bruce to accompany the Prince, together with Major 
Teesdale, Captain Keppel and a small suite. By special wish 
of the Prince Consort and at the urgent request of the Queen, 
the Rev. Dr. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley consented to accompany 
the Prince. He joined the Royal party at Alexandria on 
February 28, 1862, and they at once proceeded to Cairo and 
from thence visited the Pyramids. A little later Palestine was 
reached and, following in the historic steps of Richard Cceur 
de Lion and Edward I., another Heir to the British Throne 
finally reached Jerusalem. The closely-guarded Cave of Mac- 
phelah was opened to the Prince of Wales as well as the 
famous Mosque of Hebron which for nearly seven hundred 
years had been closed to even Royal visitors. Lake Tiberias, 
Bethany, Bethlehem, the Groves of Jericho, were visited and 
some time was spent in tents upon the journey to Damascus. 



46 EARLY YEARS AND EDUCATION 

From thence the party traveled to Beyrout, visited Tyre and 
Sidon, and proceeded to Tripoli. The journey was made by 
the Prince so as to include Patmos, Ephesus, Smyrna, Constan- 
tinople, Athens and Malta. From every place where it was 
possible the Prince collected flowers which he carefully sent to 
his sister, the Princess Royal. Of His Royal Highness during 
this interesting tour Dean Stanley put on record his opinion 
at the time : " It is impossible not to like him and to be con- 
stantly with him brings out his astonishing memory of names 
and persons ... I am more and more struck by the 
amiable and endearing qualities of the Prince." 



CHAPTER III. 

Royal Tour of British America and the 
United States 

THE first important public event in the career of the 
young Prince was one which, during forty years, has 
held a marked place in Canadian memories and a 
prominent place in Canadian and American history. In 
some respects the tour of the Prince of Wales, in i860, 
through the scattered and disconnected Provinces of British 
America has wielded an influence far out of proportion to the 
contemporary judgment of the event ; beyond, perhaps, what 
the Queen and Prince Consort in their wise and patriotic 
policy of the time hoped to achieve. It was, in reality, the 
first break in the hitherto steady progress of the Manchester 
school theory regarding ultimate Empire disruption ; the first 
check given to the widely accepted doctrine that the Colonies 
were of no use except for trade and, in any case, were like the 
fruit which ripens only to fall from the parent stem. 

Mr. Bright, Lord John Russell, Sir George Cornewall 
Lewis, Mr. Cobden, Lord Ashburton, Lord Ellenborough, 
Lord Derby, and many others, were at this time touched with 
the blight of these theories and to them there was no sense, 
and nothing but expense, in trying to cultivate Colonial loyalty 
or promote Colonial co-operation. 

IMPERIAL CONDITIONS IN i860. 

To this school — and it was one embracing many able men 
and thinkers — trade was more important than any other con- 
sideration, and the greatest object of external policy was the 

47 



4 S ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

development of friendly relations with the United States. 
American extension of territory was not looked upon with 
alarm even when it took a slice of the Maine boundary and 
threatened trouble over that of Oregon. The Republic had 
not yet gone in seriously for high protection and did not, there- 
fore, vitally touch the pockets of patriots who could not fore- 
see, even in their keen regard for commerce and its develop- 
ment, that trade and territory were in the future to be most 
intimately related. 

The Queen and Prince Consort did, however, understand 
something of the future of the Empire — dimly it might be but 
still effectively. It had been announced during the progress 
of the Crimean War that a Royal tour of British America 
might be arranged within a few years, and the Canadian 
Legislature, on May 14th, 1859, took advantage of the coming 
completion of the great Victoria Bridge across the St. Law- 
rence, at Montreal, to tender a formal invitation to the 
Sovereign herself to be present at the opening ceremonies ; to 
receive a personal tribute of the unwavering attachment of her 
subjects ; and to more closely unite the bonds which attached 
the Province to the Empire. This unanimously-passed 
address was taken to London by Mr. Speaker Henry Smith, 
and the response elicited was most favourable to the indirect 
request of the Assembly and Legislative Council — the initiative 
in the matter being due to a motion by the Hon. P. M. M. S. 
Vankoughnet in the latter 'House. The Governor-General 
received a reply, dated January 30th, i860, and signed by the 
Duke of Newcastle, Colonial Secretary, which stated that Her 
Majesty greatly regretted that her duties at the Seat of the 
Empire would prevent so long an absence, but that it might 
be possible for H. R. H. the Prince of Wales to attend the 
ceremony at a later date. "The Queen trusts that nothing 
may interfere with this arrangement for it is Her Majesty's 
sincere desire that the young Prince, on whom the Crown of 



ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 49 

this Empire will devolve, may have the opportunity of visiting 
that portion of her dominions from which this Address has 
proceeded and may become acquainted with a people in whose 
progress towards greatness, Her Majesty, in common with 
her subjects in Great Britain, feels a lively and enduring 
sympathy.' 

THE PRINCE COMMENCES HIS TOUR. 

Preparations were at once commenced in the British Prov- 
inces to properly receive the Royal guest. By the 9th of 
July all arrangements in England had been made, including 
the acceptance of an invitation to visit the United States — as a 
private gentleman under the title of Lord Renfrew. On that 
date the Prince sailed from Plymouth in the ship Hero after 
replying to a farewell address, when he declared that he was pro- 
ceeding to " the great possessions of the Queen in North 
America with a lively anticipation of the pleasure which the 
sieht of a noble land, great works of nature and human skill 
and a generous and active people must produce." The Royal 
suite was composed of the Duke of Newcastle — practically 
guardian to the youthful Prince ; the Earl of St. Germans, 
Lord Chamberlain to the Queen ; General, the Hon. Robert 
Bruce ; Dr. Auckland and two Equerries — Major Teesdale, 
V. C., and Captain Grey. 

Newfoundland was first reached on July 23d. An enthu- 
siastic reception was given to the Royal visitor at St. John's 
by ringing bells, lusty cheers, waving flags and evening illumi- 
nations. The Prince was received by the Governor, Sir 
Alexander Bannerman, and then passed in procession through 
beautiful arches and decorations to Government House. A 
levee was held, many addresses received and a collective reply 
given, in which the Prince made the statement that " I shall 
carry back a lively recollection of the day's proceedings and 
your kindness to myself personally ; but, above all, of these 
hearty demonstrations of patriotism which prove your deep- 



50 ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

rooted attachment to the great and free country of which we 
all glory to be called sons." A ride around the town followed, 
without ceremony, and in the evening a state dinner and ball 
were given. The attendance at the latter was very large and 
the Prince delighted everyone, and particularly the ladies, by 
dancing with evident zest and pleasure until three o'clock in 
the morning. During the day thus commenced he left the 
Island amid every evidence of popularity and loyalty — after 
accepting a handsome Newfoundland dog as a present from 
the people and presenting Lady Bannerman with a set of 
jewels in commemoration of his visit. 

ARRIVAL AT HALIFAX 

The Royal squadron arrived at Halifax on the morning 
of July 30th and, despite unpleasant weather, the entire city 
turned out to welcome the Queen's son. The streets were 
lined by the regular soldiers and volunteers and were beauti- 
fully decorated with arches, transparencies and evergreens. 
The arches numbered seventeen and included one which the 
Roman Catholic Archbishop Connolly had erected at his own 
expense. The Prince was received by His Excellency the 
Earl of Mulgrave — afterwards Marquess of Normanby — and 
Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, Major-General Trollope 
and the members of the Provincial Government. Mayor 
Caldwell read an address expressing " devotion to the British 
throne and attachment to British institutions" and His Royal 
Highness in reply referred to the noble Harbour of Halifax 
in which all the navies of Great Britain could "ride in safety." 
There was much enthusiasm shown in the streets and at one 
point 4000 children sang an adaptation of the National 
Anthem as a sort of welcoming- ode. At Government House 
the Hon. William Young read an address from the Executive 
Council of the Province in which special reference was made 
to the Nova Scotians who had won laurels "beneath the 



kOYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 51 

Imperial flag " in the recent Crimean campaign. It was signed 
by the Hon. Joseph Howe, the Hon. A. G. Archibald, the 
Hon. J. McCully, the Hon. William Annand and others and, 
in replying, the Prince made a significant allusion to the Con- 
federation policy of several years later when he expressed 
hopes for their happiness as a loyal and united people. 

On the following day a Royal review was held and in the 
evening a state dinner and ball were attended while illumina- 
tions turned the darkness of the outside night into brightness. 
At the ball the ladies selected as partners, according to a con- 
temporary historian, were " principally the wives and daugh- 
ters — much oftener the latter — of gentlemen connected with 
the staff or with the Government of the Province." The same 
writer* states that when the Prince adjourned to supper he 
begged that the ball might not proceed in his absence "as he 
would not be long away and his programme was full." The 
third day in Halifax included a Levee at Government House ; 
the reception of the addresses from the Church of England, 
King's College, Windsor, the Masons, the Methodist Confer- 
ence, the Free Church of Scotland, the Kirk of Scotland, the 
Roman Catholic Church, the Presbyterian Church, and Acadia 
College. A visit followed to the one-time residence and 
grounds of H. R. H. the Duke of Kent and a Regatta was 
witnessed. A state dinner and reception at Government 
House, a torch-light procession of Firemen and a display of 
fireworks in the evening closed the events of the visit. Early 
in the morning of August 2nd, His Royal Highness left for 
St. John — stopping on the way at Windsor, which was beauti- 
fully decorated, to receive an address and partake of a ban- 
quet. An address was also accepted at Hautsport. 

On the followine morning: the Prince was welcomed at St. 
John by Mr. Manners-Sutton, the Lieutenant-Governor, the 
members of the Government, the Judges, etc. At one point 

* Robert Cellem in Visit of the Piittce of Wales to Toronto, Canada, 1861. 



5 2 ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

during the procession to his temporary residence 5000 school 
children sang patriotic airs and threw flowers at their Royal 
guest. The usual addresses and evening illuminations fol- 
lowed — the latter eclipsing those of Halifax, or St. John's, 
Newfoundland. August 4th and the Sunday which followed 
were spent at Fredericton. The Anglican Cathedral was 
attended there and a sermon from Bishop Medley listened to. 
On the following day the Executive Council presented an 
address in which it stated that " if the necessity should ever 
arise all the available resources of New Brunswick will be freely 
offered for the defence of Imperial interests and the main- 
tenance of national honour." The address from the City 
referred to " the universal heart-throb of our Empire of per- 
petual sunlight" and another address was presented from the 
Anglican clergy. The Prince replied appropriately to each 
and afterwards held a Levee at Government House and 
attended a grand ball held in his honour. On Tuesday, 
August 7th, he started from Prince Edward Island, being 
enthusiastically welcomed on the way at Indiantown and 
Carleton in New Brunswick, and at Truro and Pictou in Nova 
Scotia. 

The Prince of Wales arrived at Charlottetown on the 
morning of August 9th and, despite pouring rain, was received 
by crowds in a tastefully decorated city. He was formally wel- 
comed by Lieutenant-Governor George Dundas, Chief Justice 
Hodoson, Premier, the Hon. Charles Palmer, and all the 
dignitaries and officials of the Island. As the procession 
passed to Government House 2000 children sang the National 
Anthem and the crowds cheered enthusiastically. A Levee 
was held on the following day, a review of the volunteers pro- 
ceeded with, and addresses received from the Provincial and 
Civic authorities. A ball at the Provincial Building concluded 
the festivities and the Prince danced until three in the morn- 
ing. The Royal visitor then departed for the Upper Provinces 




H. R. H. THE PRINCE OF WALES 

When visiting Canada in l.NliO 



ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 53 

and arrived in Gaspe Bay, on August 12th, after seeing 
much that was beautiful in the way of scenery. Here the 
Prince was formally welcomed to the Canada of that day 
by His Excellency Sir Edmund W. Head, Governor-General 
of all British America, and by the Canadian Ministry, which 
included the Hon. John A. Macdonald, George E. Cartier, 
A. T. Gait, John Ross, N. F. Belleau, J. C. Morrison, L. S. 
Morin and others of historic name. A visit to the gloomy 
and splendid scenes along the Saguenay followed and on 
August 17th, after passing further up the St. Lawrence, 
Quebec was reached by the Royal fleet. The succeeding day 
was marked by His Royal Highness' first public entry into 
Canada. 

THE ROYAL WELCOME AT QUEBEC. 

No more splendid natural setting for a national event can 
be found in the world than that afforded by the crowning 
heights, the broad sweep of river, the ancient and towering 
fortress of Quebec. Upon this occasion the old-fashioned 
French city, nestling upon the sides of the cliff, was vivid 
with flags and the narrow streets filled with arches, while 
crowds of interested people thronged every part of the place. 
The Heir to the Throne was formally received at the wharf 
by the Governor-General, who was accompanied by the Can- 
adian Ministry in their uniforms of blue and gold ; Lord Lyons, 
the British Minister at Washington ; Lieutenant-General Sir 
W. Fenwick Williams, Commander of the Forces ; Sir A. N. 
McNab, Sir E. P. Tache, Major H. L. Langevin and others 
prominent in the public life of the Provinces. In a special 
Pavilion which had been erected, the Prince was presented by 
Major Langevin — -better known to a subsequent generation as 
Sir Hector Langevin, M. P. — with an address describing the 
loyalty of the French population to British institutions and 
connection. In his reply the Royal guest spoke of the differ- 
ences of origin, language and religion as being " lost in one 



54 ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

universal spirit of patriotism which had knit all classes to the 
Mother-land in common ties of equal liberty and free institu- 
tions." During the procession through the city which fol- 
lowed there was much cheering, and in the evening, despite 
the rain which had poured all day, the illuminations were 
exceedingly good. 

On the following day the Anglican Cathedral was 
attended by His Royal Highness with the Governor-General 
and their suites. The succeeding day was again stormy but a 
visit was paid to the Chaudiere Falls and on Tuesday a Levee 
was held at the old Parliament Buildings attended by the 
Roman Catholic Hierarchy of the Province of Quebec in a 
body, clad in purple robes, and followed in order by the 
Judges and members of the Legislative Council and Assembly 
of the United Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada — as 
Ontario and Quebec were then generally called. An address 
was presented on behalf of the Council by its Speaker, the 
Hon. N. F. Belleau and replied to by the Prince, after which 
he conferred the honour of knighthood upon Mr. Belleau. 
An address was then presented on behalf of the Assembly by 
its Speaker, the Hon. Henry Smith, who also received the 
distinction of being personally knighted by the Royal visitor. 
Other addresses were presented and later in the day a visit 
was paid to the beautiful Falls of Montmorenci — the route to 
which was ornamented with arches, flags and evergreens. I n 
the evening a grand ball was given and the Prince danced 
through almost the entire programme. On the following day 
a visit was paid to Laval University and an address received 
from the Roman Catholic Hierarchy at the hands of Bishop 
Horan of Kingston, as well as one -from the University. The 
former document stated that the Church was always careful to 
teach that Kings reign by God's will and that, therefore, 
" entire submission is due to the authority they have received 
from on high." They believed " traditional respect for the 



ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 55 

high moral principle of legitimate authority " to be the real 
strength of Canadian society. The Prince responded in fitting 
terms to both addresses. The Ursuline Convent was also 
visited and an address received. In the evening a display of 
fireworks was given and on the morning of August 23rd His 
Royal Highness departed for Three Rivers. 

THE PRINCE AT MONTREAL 

The trip up the River was a pleasant one and, after a 
brief stay at Three Rivers where the Mayor — Mr. J. E. Tur- 
cotte M. P. P. — presented an address, the journey was resumed 
to Montreal. Accompanying the steamer Kingston (which had 
been specially fitted up for this occasion) from Three Rivers 
was another containing the members of the Legislature. All 
along the shores of the St. Lawrence were little crowds of 
habitants striving for a glimpse of the Royal visitor and, when 
nearing Montreal, he was received by a fleet of vessels 
crowded with cheering people. The reception in the city 
commenced on the morning of August 25th and was marked 
by the gathering of numerous crowds and intense interest. 
An address was presented by Mr. Charles S. Rodier, the 
Mayor of Montreal, in a handsome Pavilion specially erected 
for the purpose, and surrounded by the entire military and 
volunteer force of the district and city. The Mayor in his 
scarlet robes, the Ministers in their new Windsor uniforms, the 
officers in their varied military dress and Bishop Fulford and 
the Anglican clergy in their gowns, made quite a brilliant 
spectacle on the dais. After the Prince had replied to the 
address the Royal procession passed through the city to the 
Crystal Palace, the streets being gay with flags, banners, ever- 
greens, transparencies and eight, more or less, handsome 
arches. 

At the new building, or Crystal Palace, an Exhibition was 
duly opened by the Prince, who then proceeded to the Victoria 



56 ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

Bridge station where he was met by the Hon. John Ross, 
President of the Grand Trunk Railway, and other officials. 
An address was presented descriptive of the great structure 
across the St. Lawrence and, after his reply, the Prince was 
taken from the station to the Bridge in a carriage lined with 
crimson velvet and there proceeded to formally open it for. 
public use. An elaborate luncheon, attended by 600 persons 
and presided over by Sir Edmund Head, followed. After 
receiving an address from the workmen employed in the 
undertaking His Royal Highness returned to the city and in 
the evening witnessed illuminations which made Montreal a 
blaze of light. On Sunday, the 26th, the Prince attended 
Christ Church Cathedral and heard a sermon from Bishop 
Fulford. During the succeeding day he witnessed a lacrosse 
game by Indians, watched a procession of Temperance organ- 
izations, and held a Levee at the Court House where addresses 
were presented from the Church of England, McGill College, 
the inhabitants of Red River Colony — now the City of Win- 
nipeg — and others. 

In the evening one of the finest balls ever given on the 
Continent of America was attended by the Prince. The deco- 
rations were gorgeous and yet tasteful and the Royal guest is 
stated to have danced incessantly until half-past four in the 
morning. On Tuesday he visited Dickenson's Landing in a 
special car built by the Grand Trunk Railway and from thence 
went down the Rapids of the St. Lawrence in the steamer 
Kingston. The evening saw a Grand Musical Festival in his 
honour and on the following day a Royal review of 1600 
troops took place. A visit followed to Sir George Simpson's 
residence at Isle Dorval, accompanied by a canoe excursion 
down the St. Lawrence under the auspices of the Hudson's 
Bay Company, of which Sir G. Simpson had so long been 
head. The evening witnessed a torch-light procession of 
Montreal Firemen. On August 30th the Royal visitor, the 



ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 57 

Governor-General and their suites, took a special train for St. 
Hyacinthe where the Prince was enthusiastically received and 
several addresses presented at the Roman Catholic College. 
At Sherbrooke, in the afternoon, flags were flying everywhere 
and arches had been erected on all the principal streets. An 
address was read by the Mayor, Mr. J. G. Robertson — after- 
wards for many years Treasurer of the Province. A visit was 
then paid to the residence of the Hon. A. T. Gait, Minister of 
Finance, and on the way thither His Royal Highness was 
almost smothered in bouquets of flowers thrown at him by 
young women along the route. A Levee was held here and 
hundreds of people presented. At Montreal in the evening, a 
great display of fireworks took place and on the following 
morning the Prince left the city finally. 

AT THE CAPITAL OF THE UNITED PROVINCES. 

At every village and town and tiny settlement on the way 
to Ottawa crowds turned out to welcome and cheer the pass- 
ing visitor ; while flags and arches and decorations indicated 
the pleasure of the people in more practical shape. Near the 
capital of the United Provinces of Upper and lower Canada- 
seven years hence to be the capital of the new Dominion — the 
Prince of Wales was received by a fleet of steamers and 1200 
lumbermen and Indians in birch-bark canoes and was escorted 
into the city in a most picturesque style. Mayor Work- 
man presented an address and a procession through the capi- 
tal followed. On September 1st the corner stone of the 
splendid Parliament Buildings, which afterwards graced the 
hills of the Chaudiere, was laid by the Royal visitor amid scenes 
of considerable dignity and much enthusiasm. Amongst those 
present were H. E. Sir Edmund Head, Lord Mulgrave, Gen- 
eral Sir Fenwick Williams, Hon. John A. Macdonald and the 
other members of the Ministry. In the afternoon a state 
luncheon was given by the Government at which the Governor- 



58 ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

General presided and the toasts proposed were presented 
respectively by His Excellency, Sir N. F. Belleau, Sir Henry 
Smith and the Prince himself. A visit to the Chaudiere Falls 
followed and the usual illuminations were given in the even- 
ing. On Sunday Christ Church Cathedral was attended and 
early in the succeeding day the journey was resumed— 
Arnprior, Almonte and Brockville being visited and addresses 
received. 

At this point in the tour occurred an unfortunate misun- 
derstanding with the Orangemen of Kingston and Toronto. 
While in Montreal the Duke of Newcastle — who was practi- 
cally in charge of the Prince's movements so far as they 
affected state and public interests — heard that the members of 
the Loyal Orange Order proposed to erect arches along the 
route of the Royal procession in Toronto and Kingston and to 
decorate them with Orange colours and regalia. The Duke at 
once wrote to Sir Edmund Head that this would not do. "It 
is obvious that a display of this nature on such an occasion is 
likely to lead to religious feud and breach of the peace ; and 
it is my duty to prevent, so far as I am able, the exposure of 
the Prince to supposed participation in a scene so much to be 
deprecated, and so alien to the spirit in which he visits Can- 
ada." He added that if the policy was persisted in he would 
advise the Prince not to visit the places in question. 

Sectarian feeling, it may be added, was very strong at this 
time in Upper Canada and the Catholics and Orangemen were 
drawn up in two distinctly hostile camps of religious and polit- 
ical thought. This was especially the case in Toronto and 
Kingston. The Governor-General at once wrote the Mayors 
of these two towns under date of August 31st and, in the 
course of his letter said: You will bear in mind, Sir, that His 
Royal Highness visits this Colony on the special invitation ol 
the whole people, as conveyed by both branches of the Legis- 
lature, without distinction of creed or party ; and it would be 



ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 59 

inconsistent with the spirit and object of such an invitation, 
and such a visit, to thrust on him the exhibition of banners or 
other badges of distinction which are known to be offensive to 
any of Her Majesty's subjects." Roman Catholics called meet- 
ings to protest at the intended action of the Orangemen ; the 
latter met in public and private and convinced themselves that 
the representatives of the former were being allowed to con- 
trol the Prince's movements. They pointed to their own well- 
known loyalty to the Crown and British institutions and to the 
fact that Roman Catholics had been permitted every privilege 
in welcoming the Prince in Lower Canada. Eventually, 
although the Duke of- Newcastle made every effort to smooth 
matters over, the City Council of Kingston and the Orange- 
men of that place refused to give way and the steamer Kings- 
ton, after sixteen hours had been given for consideration, 
passed in her course to Belleville without the Prince landing 
in the gaily decorated and historic town. 

Writing from the steamer on September 5th, before leav- 
ing for the next destination in the Royal tour, the Duke wrote 
to the Mayor a long letter in which the following sentence 
occurs : " What is the sacrifice I asked the Orangemen to 
make ? Merely to abstain from displaying in the presence of 
a young Prince of 19 years of age — the heir to a sceptre which 
rules over millions of every form of Christianity — symbols of 
religious and political organization which are notoriously 
offensive to the members of another creed!" He expressed 
regret that the City Council had not accepted the suggestion 
to present their address on board the steamer as had been 
done by the Church of Scotland Synod. The reply of the 
Mayor, Mr. O. S. Strange, disclaimed sympathy with the 
Orangemen while defending a refusal to approve the advice 
given to the Prince of Wales. It also pointed out that the 
garbs and flags of the Orange Order were no more compro- 
mising to the Royal visitor than were the robes and insignia 



60 ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

of the Catholic Hierarchy of Quebec during the reception in 
that Province. 

ROYAL RECEPTION AT TORONTO. 

Belleville was reached on September 5th, but no landing 
was effected on account of Orange troubles of the same kind 
as at Kingston. The disappointment of the people was 
extreme, as the preparations had been elaborate and the 
decorations costly. Visits followed to Cobourg, where a ball 
was given ; to Rice Lake, where an address was received from 
the Mississaga Indians; to Peterborough, Whitby and Port 
Hope, which were most lavishly decorated. Toronto was 
reached on September 7th and the greatest reception of the 
tour given to the Royal visitor. As the centre of Orange 
sentiment in Upper Canada some difficulty was feared, and as 
a matter of fact there was a misunderstanding between the 
Duke of Newcastle and Mayor Wilson — afterwards Sir Adam 
Wilson, Chief Justice of Ontario — regarding the Orange arch; 
but this was ultimately smoothed over. The city was gay 
with flaes and decorations ; nine arches had been erected in 
the principal streets ; a large amphitheatre was built for the 
purposes of the formal reception ; and the city was crowded 
with people. At the amphitheatre an address was received 
from the city and replied to by the Prince in a speech in which 
he referred to the generous loyalty of his welcome as the 
Queen's representative — " a loyalty tempered and yet strength- 
ened by the intelligent independence of the Canadian charac- 
ter." A welcome was sung by 5000 school children and a 
procession through Toronto followed. Brilliant illuminations 
in the evening made the town bright and in the ensuing morn- 
ine the Prince held a Levee at which one thousand gentlemen 
were presented. 

Addresses were presented during this function from the 
Upper Canada Bible Society, the Church of England Synod, 




DEAN STANLEY 
The King's early teachei. 



ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 61 

Trinity University, the Presbyterian Synod, the St. George's 
Society, the Temperance organizations, the County Council 
of York, and Knox College, and were duly replied to. In the 
afternoon His Royal Highness attended a reception given by 
the Law Society and in the evening a dance under the same 
auspices at Osgoode Hall. On the next day, Sunday, the 
Prince attended service at St. James Cathedral and listened to 
a sermon from Bishop Strachan. On Monday, an excursion 
was made to Collingvvood, on the Georgian Bay, and the 
Prince was accompanied by the Governor-General, Sir Fen- 
wick Williams and the Hon. Messrs. A. T. Gait, P. M. Van- 
koughnet, W. B. Robinson, J. Hillyard Cameron and others, 
as well as by his suite. At Newmarket, Aurora, Bradford and 
Barrie addresses were received and at every point along the 
Northern Railway there were decorations and crowds of 
people. 

At Collinewood there was luncheon and an enthusiastic 
reception and the Prince then returned to Toronto, where he 
watched the games of the Canadian Highland Society for a 
time. September iith was a very wet day, but the Royal 
visitor attended a Regatta held under the auspices of the 
.Royal Canadian Yacht Club, opened Queen's Park, and laid a 
pedestal for a statue to the Queen. He also reviewed the 
Toronto Volunteer Corps, and visited the University of 
Toronto where he received an address as well as one from 
Upper Canada College. A visit to the Educational Depart- 
ment of the Province and Knox College followed and a busy 
day was concluded by a great ball in the evening, at which the 
Prince danced until four in the morning. 

THE PRINCE IN THE WEST. 

On September 12th His Royal Highness left Toronto for 
a trip through the western portion of Upper Canada (Ontario) 
and was welcomed at every station by decorations and cheering 



62 ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

crowds. Arches were everywhere and salutes were fired 
with frequency. A short stop was made at Guelph and Strat- 
ford and an address was received at the German settlement of 
Peterburg, to which the Prince replied in the same language. 
In the afternoon London was reached and an enthusiastic 
reception given which included a torchlight procession and 
evening illuminations. Sarnia was visited on the following 
day and, besides the usual addresses, one was presented from 
the Indians of Upper Canada. At London, in the evening, a 
ball was given and the young Prince danced with the anima- 
tion which he had displayed at all the entertainments of this 
character given in his honour. On September 14th he pro- 
ceeded to visit Niagara Falls in a new and beautiful car 
specially constructed by the Great Western Railway Company. 

Woodstock, Paris, Brantford, Dunnville and Port Col- 
borne were visited en route, and at the Falls in the evening 
most exquisite illuminations were exhibited for the pleasure of 
the visitor — -lines of fire running along the cliffs while other 
kinds of light intensified the natural splendour of the scene. 
During his'several days at this point, the Prince saw Blondin 
cross the chasm on a rope ; attended service at the little church 
in the Canadian village ; paid a brief visit to the American 
fort on the other side of Niagara River ; saw the Welland 
Canal and visited Queenston Heights and the tomb of Sir 
Isaac Brock. At the latter place he received an address from 
one hundred and sixty survivors of the War of 181 2 at the 
hands of Chief Justice Sir J. Beverley Robinson and, on Sep- 
tember 1 8th, laid the corner-stone of an obelisk in honour of 
the chief Canadian hero of that contest. A visit to Port Dal- 
housie and Hamilton followed, and at the latter place the 
reception was marked by splendid decorations and much 
enthusiasm. 

In his reply to the address the Royal visitor was more 
than usually impressive — no doubt realizing that the end of 



ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 63 

this visit to a great country of the future was close at hand. 
"I can never forget," he said, "the scenes I have witnessed 
during the short time in which I have enjoyed the privilege of 
associating myself with the Canadian people, which must ever 
he a bright epoch in my life. I shall bear away with me a 
grateful remembrance of kindness and affection which, as yet, 
f have been unable to do anything to merit ; and it shall be 
the constant effort of my future years to prove myself not 
unworthy of the love and confidence of a generous people." 
Fire-works, a state concert, a visit to the Central School, a 
luncheon at the Royal Hotel, a visit to the waterworks and a 
grand ball in the evening were amongst the events of the stay 
in Hamilton. On September 20th the last address received 
and answered by His Royal Highness in Canada was presented 
by the Agricultural Society of Upper Canada. To its loyal 
phrases the King and Emperor of a distant future made this 
final response : " My duties as representative of the Queen, 
deputed by her to visit British North America, cease this day ; 
but in a private capacity I am about to visit, before I return 
home, that remarkable land which claims with us a common 
ancestry and in whose extraordinary progress every English- 
man feels a common interest. Before I quit British soil let 
me once more address through you the inhabitants of United 
Canada and bid them an affectionate farewell. May God pour 
down his choicest blessings upon this great and loyal people." 

THE PRINCE OF WALES IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Windsor was reached in the evening and after words of 
loyal greeting had been received from its people, the Prince of 
Wales left Canadian soil and, accompanied by the Governor 
of Michigan and the Mayor of Detroit, crossed the river to 
United States territory and was welcomed there as Lord Ren- 
frew — one of his many minor titles. This part of the Royal tour 
had been arranged as a result of an invitation received by the 



64 ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

Queen from President Buchanan dated June 4th, i860, and 
expressing the hope that His Royal Highness' visit would be 
extended to the Republic. This had been agreed to by the 
Queen who intimated in reply that, while in the United States, 
the Prince would drop all Royal state and travel under the 
name of Lord Renfrew as he was accustomed to do on the. 
Continent of Europe. It may be said, in passing, that this 
incognito was very slightly observed and that the Royal visitor 
was welcomed everywhere as the heir to the British throne and 
the son of a much-respected and friendly Sovereign. 

At Detroit the Prince parted from the Governor-General 
of Canada and the members of the Canadian Government 
who had hitherto accompanied him and, after a drive around 
the city and a brilliant illumination in the evening, departed 
on the morning of September 2 1st for Chicago. A special 
car was provided by the Michigan Central Railway. At Chi- 
cago there was no formal welcome or function ; no particular 
enthusiasm or crowds. The Prince was driven around the 
great new city of the West and enjoyed his first experience of 
the panorama of American development which that centre 
even then presented. He did not stay long and on the 22nd 
departed for Dwight, in the same State, where four days were 
spent in shooting. On September 27th he arrived at St. Louis, 
then a place of about seventeen thousand people, and here His 
Royal Highness visited the State Fair. There were estimated 
to have been twenty-eight thousand persons in the amphithe- 
atre of the Fair and a curious incident of the visit is recorded 
by a writer, already quoted, who states that a vain search of 
the city had been made for a Union Jack to place beside the 
American flag on the central building. 

From St. Louis the Prince proceeded to Cincinnati, in 
Ohio, and on the evening of September 29th attended a ball 
given by an enterprising citizen who had just erected a hand- 
some new theatre. On Sunday, St. John's Church was visited 



ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 65 

and a sermon preached by Bishop Mcllvaine. Pittsburg was 
reached on October 1st and an enthusiastic but informal recep- 
tion accorded. Harrisburg was the next place visited and it 
was noted that, as the Prince and his suite went further east 
and south, the curious crowds gave place to increasingly enthus- 
iastic crowds. At Baltimore immense throngs of people had 
gathered and thence on October 3rd the Royal party proceeded 
to Washington which they reached in the afternoon. The 
Prince, who had been accompanied through American terri- 
tory by Lord Lyons, the British Minister, was welcomed to 
the capital by General Cass and then driven to the White 
House where, in the evening, a state reception was given in 
his honour. 

On the following day the President held a Levee, accom- 
panied by " Lord Renfrew," and a great number of people 
attended. Afterwards a visit was paid to the handsome public 
buildings of the city. On October 5th, President Buchanan, 
his niece, Miss Harriet Lane, the Prince of Wales and many 
members of the American Cabinet and Diplomatic Corps, as 
well as the Duke of Newcastle and Lord Lyons, visited Mount 
Vernon. There, for a few moments, the descendant of George 
III. stood with uncovered head before the tomb of George 
Washington. In the evening a state dinner was given by 
Lord Lyons and on the following day the Prince left Wash- 
ington for Richmond. Here his most enjoyable experience is 
said to have been, not the historical explanations and hospi- 
table companionship of Governor Letcher, but the first taste of 
a mint julep mixed by a negro of much local fame in the pre- 
paration of this cooling drink. Baltimore was visited on 
October 8th and Philadelphia on the 10th. At some of these 
centres of population the Prince was able to spend apart of the 
day, incognito, amongst the people who, in perfect ignorance 
of his presence, no doubt taught the future King of Great 
Britain much that he would never otherwise have known as to 



66 ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

public opinion in a country where the courses of freedom 
were uncontrolled by custom and unshackled by precedent or 
tradition. A feature of the visit to Philadelphia was a splen- 
did concert given in the Opera House, at which Patti and 
others sang to a brilliant audience amidst striking decorations. 
To the verses of " God Save the Queen " were added the fol- 
lowing lines : 

" Long may the Prince abide, 
England's hope, joy and pride, 

L,ong live the Prince ; 
May England's future King, 
Victoria's virtues bring, 
To grace his reign. 

G®d save the Prince." 

On October nth the Prince of Wales arrived in New 
York and was welcomed on his steamer by General Winfield 
Scott and a reception committee. At the landing place 
Mayor Fernando Wood received him with the simple words : 
"As Chief Magistrate of this city, I welcome you here and 
believe that I represent the entire population without excep- 
tion." The guest's reply was equally brief and then, clad in a 
Colonel's uniform, the Prince was driven through crowded 
streets to the City Hall, where six thousand soldiers were 
reviewed, and thence to the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The only 
unpleasant incident of the visit was the refusal of an Irish 
recqment to turn out upon this occasion with the other troops. 
During the following clay His Royal Highness visited the Uni- 
versity of New York, the Astor Library and the Cooper 
Institute. At the first-named institution he listened to an 
address on the electric telegraph from Professor Morse. In 
the evening a splendid ball was given at the Academy of Music 
where brilliant decorations vied with the beautiful costumes. 

On the following day the Prince, with his suite, visited 
Brady's photograph gallery and Barnum's Museum and, in 



RO YAL TO UR OF AMERICA . . ; 

the evening, witnessed a torch-light procession of five thou- 
sand Firemen. At the first-named place he inspected and 
asked for portraits of the eminent men of the United States 
and especially inquired for one of Secretary W. L. Marcy. 
Trinity Church was attended on Sunday and a sermon heard 
from the Rev. Dr. Francis Vinton — assisted in the service by 
a number of other clergymen. The church was crowded and 
ten thousand people waited outside to see the Royal visitor. 
New York was left on the followina- morning and West Point 
and Albany visited. In the afternoon of October 17th the 
Prince and his suite arrived at Boston and were formally wel- 
comed by the Governor of Massachusetts as representing 
a country with which the American people were, he declared, 
united by "many ties of language, law and liberty." At lun- 
cheon the Hon. Edward Everett was one of the quests as the 
Hon. W. H. Seward had been at a dinner in Albany. In the 
afternoon a children's concert was given at the Music Hall in 
honour of the Prince and an Ode written by Dr. Oliver Wen- 
dell Holmes was sung with enthusiasm to the air of the British 
National anthem. It commenced with the following verse : 

" God bless our fathers' I,and, 
Keep her in heart and hand, 

One with our own. 
From all her foes defend, 
Be her brave people's friend, 
On all her realms descend 

Protect her throne !" 

A ball was given in the evening at the Boston Theatre 
and, on the following morning, a flying visit paid to Cam- 
bridge and to Harvard University. Incidentally, it may be 
added, the Prince met Longfellow, Emerson, Holmes and 
others during his stay in Boston. On October 20th he reached 
Portland and, amid roaring cannon, ringing bells and crowds 



68 ROYAL TOUR OF AMERICA 

of cheering people passed from the shores of America to his 
ship in the ranks of a British squadron and thence home to 
the British Isles. On November 15th, His Royal Highness 
arrived at Plymouth and shortly afterwards the Duke of New- 
castle received the Order of the Garter from the Queen as a 
token of her appreciation of his conduct during the Royal 
tour. Under date of December 8th Her Majesty communi- 
cated to the American President, through Lord Lyons, her 
great satisfaction at "the feeling of confidence and affection" 
which had been shown upon this occasion by the people of 
the United States towards herself and her country. 

Speaking on the same date at Nottingham, England, the 
Duke of Newcastle stated that during his recent visit to Brit- 
ish North America he had "witnessed such devotion to the 
Sovereign and these realms as no one who had not witnessed 
it himself would be willing to believe. It was a demonstra- 
tion of the attachment of the entire people to the throne of 
England and of their veneration for the lady who at present 
occupied it. It was a loyalty not of creed, nor of party, nor 
of race." As to the United States the influence of the Queen's 
personality had been even more striking. The reception of 
the Prince there had been an extraordinary one. "With one 
solitary exception they met with nothing but enthusiasm and, 
in fact, he did believe that the visit of the Prince of Wales to 
America had done more to cement the eood feeline between 
the two countries than could possiblv have been affected by a 
quarter of a century of diplomacy." 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Royal Marriage 

THREE years after the birth of the Heir to the British 
Throne, in one of the historic palaces of his family and 
country, there was born on December ist, 1844, m a 
comparatively humble home at Copenhagen, the Princess 
Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louisa Julia of Denmark. 
The house was called a palace, her father was Heir to the 
Throne of Denmark, and became King Christian IX. on No- 
vember 15th, 1863, but the mansion was, none the less, a quiet 
and unostentatious place, and the Prince a personage with 
hardly more resources or a larger revenue than many an Eng- 
lish country gentleman. 

Simplicity and domesticity were the guiding principles of 
the Princess Alexandra's education and training. Her mother, 
the late Queen Louise of Denmark, was beautiful, graceful 
and clever, and seems to have possessed that love of home 
which is more rare than even the striking combination of qual- 
ities just mentioned. She was passionately fond of music, 
while Prince Christian was fond of drawing, and these subjects, 
together with languages and needle-work and all the essentials 
of the most simple home work and management, were taught 
to the girls who were respectively to become Empress of Rrus- 
sia, Queen of Great Britain, and Duchess of Cumberland in 
after years. 

As the years passed on the Princess Alexandra became 
probably the most beautiful girl in the Courts of Europe, and 
one of the least known outside a limited family circle. When 
hardly seventeen, and at a period in which the marriage of the 

69 



70 THE ROYAL MARRIAGE 

young Prince of Wales was being seriously thought of by 
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, he chanced to see a portrait 
of the Princess. There seems to be no doubt that it was 
purely by accident — unless the wise and far-seeing Prince Con- 
sort indirectly controlled the incident — and that the picture of 
the lovely young girl, smiling from out of simple surroundings 
and a simple costume, had an immediate effect. He kept the 
photograph, and a little later saw a miniature of the Princess 
at the home of a friend. In a surprisingly short time the 
Prince had heard that the original of the picture was " the 
most beautiful girl in Europe," and was on his way to Prussia 
to attend the military manoeuvres of the season. The Crown 
Prince and Princess of Denmark happened to be travelling in 
the vicinity at the time. 

THE PRINCE MEETS PRINCESS ALEXANDRA. 

On September 24th, 1861, the Prince of Wales and his 
party met the Danish Royal party in the Cathedral of 
Worms, and the former had a first glance at his future wife. 
Then followed a few days at the Castle of Heidelberg, where 
they were all guests together, and about which a note in Prince 
Albert's Diaiy of September 30th says that " the young people 
seem to have taken a warm liking- for each other.'' Less 
than three months after this entry the writer had passed away, 
but the sad event only made the widowed Queen more anxious 
for her son's marriage. Further meetings occurred at the 
Princess Frederick's — the English Crown Princess — and else- 
where, and on September 9th, 1862, the betrothal took place ; 
although it was not publicly announced until November 8th. 
The Prince was then just twenty-one and the Princess not yet 
eighteen, and it was understood that some months would 
elapse before the marriage. Meanwhile, in August, Queen 
Victoria had first met and been charmed by her future daugh- • 
ter-in-law at the Laacken Palace of the King of the Belgians. 



THE ROYAL MARRIAGE 7, 

The Danish people were naturally delighted at the news, and, 
poor as they were in a national sense, they at once subscribed 
a total sum of ,£8,000 to constitute what was called the Peo- 
ple's Dowry. This the Princess accepted with cordial thanks 
to the nation, but asked that a substantial portion of it be 
allotted to provide a dowry for six poor girls whose weddings 
should take place on the same day as her own. 

THE COMING OF THE PRINCESS. 

Meantime the English people were expressing their 
pleasure at the news in various ways. The House of Com- 
mons voted the Prince of Wales a yearly income of ,£40,000 
and his bride-to-be ;£ 10,000 for herself. Including the 
,£40,000 from the Duchy of Cornwall this made a reasonable 
sum, while Sandringham and Marlborough House were allotted 
as Royal residences — requiring, however, much remodelling 
and improvement. Preparations of the most elaborate and 
splendid sort were made to welcome the lovely Danish Princess 
and into these arrangements the whole people seemed to throw 
themselves with mingled excitement and pleasure. 

In the little Copenhagen palace this turmoil was hardly 
known ; the preparations certainly were not comprehended ; 
and the quiet family were preparing in the most simple way for 
the great occasion— not the least excitement of the moment 
being the fact of their all going to England together. The 
wedding day was fixed for the 10th of March, and a few days 
before this the Princess left Denmark for her new home ; 
passing over carpets of flowers strewn in her way by pressing 
and cheering crowds of affectionate people ; receiving ad- 
dresses everywhere, and smiles and tears and good wishes 
from simple peasants, who had decorated even their hedgerows 
and who made the departure look like a triumphal procession. 
Then King Frederick VII., presented her with a necklace of 



72 THE ROYAL MARRIAGE 

diamonds and a facsimile of the Dagmar Cross — that prec- 
ious relic of early days and of the first Christian Queen of 
Denmark. 

The Princess arrived in the Thames on board the Victoria 
and Albert — which had been escorted from Flushing by a 
squadron of war-ships — on the morning of March ist, and was 
welcomed at Gravesend by an outburst of enthusiasm which 
literally astounded her. A stately and formal reception she 
had, of course, anticipated but the splendour of what actually 
appeared, the elaborate character of the preparations, the sur- 
prising interest shewn by the people, were indeed revelations 
of the changed conditions into which the bride of the Heir 
Apparent had come. At Gravesend the dense crowds which 
lined the shores, or at least some portion of them, saw a sight 
which has been well described as pretty — "A timid girlish 
figure, dressed entirely in white, who appeared on the deck at 
her mother's side and then retiring to the cabin, was seen first 
at one window then at another, the bewildering face framed in 
a little white bonnet ; the work of her own hands." 

HER RECEPTION IN ENGLAND 

When the Prince's yacht approached and he was seen to 
rush across the gangway, catch his bride in his arms and kiss 
her, the delight of the onlookers was unconstrained. As the 
Royal couple landed, girls strewed flowers under their feet. 
Then followed the glittering procession from Gavesend to 
London and thence to Windsor through long: lines of decor- 
ated houses, garlanded and festooned roadways, flashing 
sabres and gorgeous uniformed soldiers. In London the 
streets were packed with people ; triumphal arches, banners 
and devices were everywhere. In the poorer streets, in the 
homes of the artisan and the factory girl, there was the same 
effort to show pleasure in the happiness of the Princess and 
appreciation of her grace and beauty as there was in the great 



THE ROYAL MARRIAGE 



73 



residential squares. At Eton there was a triumphal arch and 
a loyal gathering of enthusiastic boys ; at Windsor the Queen 
received the Princess and conducted her to the suite of rooms 
which had been lately occupied by the Princess Alice. The 
first part, the popular reception, was over and it had proved 
how accurately the Poet Laureate had grasped the situation 
when he wrote of " the sea-king's daughter from over the sea" 
and gave that lordly command to the nation : 

' ' Welcome her ; thunders of fort and of fleet ! 
Welcome her ; thundering cheer of the street ! 
Welcome her ; all things youthful and sweet ! 
Scatter the blossoms under her feet." 

CELEBRATION OF THE MARRIAGE. 

The marriage was celebrated in St. George's Chapel, 
Windsor, on March ioth, the ceremony being performed by 
Dr. Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the 
Bishops of London, Winchester and Chester and by Dean 
Wellesley of Windsor. The Queen, owing to the Prince 
Consort's recent death, took no part officially but looked on 
from the Royal closet. The historic Chapel was a blaze of 
colour and jewels and the wedding guests numbered nine 
hundred of the highest rank and station and reputation in the 
land. Mr. Speaker Denison, afterwards Lord Ossington, in 
his Diary gives a description of the scene. " It was a very 
magnificent sight — rich, gorgeous and imposing. Beautiful 
women were arrayed in the richest attire, in bright colours, blue, 
purple, red, and were covered with diamonds and jewels. 
Grandmothers looked beautiful: Lady Abercorn, Lady West- 
minster, Lady Shaftsbury. Among the young, Lady Spencer, 
Lady Castlereagh, Lady Carmarthen, were bright and brilliant. 
The Knights of the Garter in their robes looked each of them 
a fine picture. As each of the Royal persons, with their 
attendants, walked up the Chapel, at a certain point each 



74 THE ROYAL MARRIAGE 

stopped and made an obeisance to the Queen — the Princess 
Mary, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Princess of Prussia, the 
Princess Alice of Hesse, the Princess Helena, the Princess 
Christian, etc, each in turn formed a complete scene. The 
Princess Alexandra, with her bridesmaids, made the best and 
most beautiful scene. The Princess looked beautiful and very 
graceful in her manner and demeanour." The bridesmaids 
were eight in number — Lady Victoria Scott, Lady Victoria 
Howard, Lady Agneta Yorke, Lady Feodora Wellesley, Lady 
Diana Beauclerk, Lady Georgina Hamilton, Lady Alma Bruce, 
and Lady Helena Hare. They represented many of the 
noblest houses in England and wore dresses described as being 
of "white tulle over white glace silk" and trimmed with roses, 
shamrocks and white heather. Each of them also wore a 
locket presented by the Prince of Wales and composed of 
coral and diamonds so as to represent the red and white 
national colours of Denmark. It is interesting to note that, 
in 1898, all these ladies were still living. 

During the ceremony, the Prince of Wales was supported 
by his uncle, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg, and his brother-in-law, 
the Crown Prince of Prussia. He wore the uniform of a 
British General, the Collar of the Garter, the Order of the Star 
of India and the rich, flowing purple velvet mantle of a Knight 
of the Garter. Princess Alexandra was given away by her 
father and wore a white satin skirt trimmed with garlands of 
orange blossoms and puffings of tulle and Honiton lace, the 
bodice being draped with the same lace, while the train of 
silver moire antique was covered with orange blossoms and 
puffings of tulle. She wore also the diamond and pearl neck- 
lace, earings and brooch, given her by the bridegroom and the 
riviere of diamonds presented by the Corporation of London, 
as well as three bracelets given, respectively, by the Queen, 
the ladies of Leeds and the ladies of Manchester. Her beauti- 
ful hair was very simply dressed and on it lay a wreath of 



THE ROYAL MARRIAGE 75 

orange blossoms covered by a veil of Honiton lace. The 
bridal bouquet was composed of orange blossoms, white rose- 
buds, orchids and sprigs of myrtle. The actual ceremony was 
a very short one, the Prince giving his responses clearly, though 
the Princess was at times almost inaudible. The whole func- 
tion had been a brilliant one — the first marriaee celebrated in 
this Chapel since that of Henry I. in 11 22 — and no touch of 
mourning was allowed to mar the pageantry of the scene and 
the bright colours of uniforms and dresses. 

The wedding breakfast was held in the State dining-room 
and in St. George's Hall and, while it was proceeding, the 
King of Denmark was lavishly entertaining both rich and poor 
in the home country of the Royal bride. Throughout Great 
Britain that night bon-fires blazed, bells rang, houses were 
illuminated, balls and festivities were held, school children 
treated and banquets spread. Edinburgh excelled itself and 
some one has said that a pen of fire dipped in rainbow hues 
would have been needed to describe its pyrotechnic display. 
Meanwhile, the Prince and Princess of Wales had taken their 
departure for Osborne, which had been lent them by the 
Queen, and there the brief honeymoon was spent. At Read- 
ing, on the way thither, thirty thousand people met the train 
and presented the Princess with a bouquet. Writing of this 
most popular of historic weddings Canon Kingsley said in a 
private letter, dated March 12th, that "one real thing I did 
see, and felt too, the serious grace and reverent dignity of my 
dear young Master, whose manner was perfect. And one other 
real thing — the Queen's sad face. I cannot tell you how aus- 
picious I consider this event or how happy it has made the little 
knot of us (the Prince's Household in which he had recently 
become a Chaplain) who love him because we know him. I 
hear nothing but golden reports of the Princess from those 
who have known her long." A few days later, on March 25th, 
Lady Waterford wrote to a friend that she had just seen at a 



7 6 THE ROYAL MARRIAGE 

reception " the graceful, charming young Princess of Wales " 
and that she had been in no way disappointed as to the beauty 
of which all England was talking. " There was something 
charming in that very young pair walking up the room 
together. Her graceful bows and carriage you will delight in 
and she has — with lovely youth and well-formed features— a 
look of great intelligence beyond that of a mere girl. She 
wore the coronet of diamonds and a very long train of cloth of 
silver trimmed with lace, pearl and diamond necklace, bracelet 
and a stomacher and two love-locks of rich brown hair floated 
on her shoulders." 

EARLY HOME LIFE OF THE ROYAL COUPLE. 

The Royal pair did not stay very long on the Isle of 
Wight and, after a visit to Buckingham Palace and Windsor, 
entered their new home at Sandringham on March 28th. 
Here the beautiful personality and character of the Princess 
soon impressed themselves upon the life of the house and its 
more public environment. She proved to be a model house- 
wife, later on a model mother, and always and everywhere a 
model of tactful action and conversation. Pliability and 
adaptability were useful and important qualities which she 
found more than serviceable in these early years of her transi- 
tion from a comparatively humble home to one of continuous 
splendour and almost constant state. Difficulties there natur- 
ally were of many minor sorts and formidable they no doubt 
were in the sum total. New customs to comprehend and 
adopt ; new intricacies of a not entirely familiar language to 
become acquainted with ; new and varied responsibilities in 
both domestic and public life to understand and put in prac- 
tice ; qualities of natural diffidence and reserve to overcome. 
But these and other obstacles were conquered with an apparent 
ease which concealed any real trouble in the struggle, and the 
Princess threw herself into the life and woik of her husband 



THE ROYAL MARRIAGE 77 

and the spirit of the English people in a way which has ever 
since ensured to her the lasting love of those in her immediate 
circle and the deep-seated affection of the many-sided British 
public. 

During the three or four immediately following years the 
public appearances of the Prince and Princess of Wales were 
not numerous. Philanthropic interests were taken up and 
maintained, but domestic and home interests seemed to hold 
the first place. In August, 1864, a visit was paid to the High- 
lands and some weeks spent at Abergeldie. Here, Dr. Norman 
Macleod was amongst their guests and here they saw much of 
the Earl and Countess of Fife, parents of their future son-in- 
law, the present Duke of Fife. An autumn visit to Denmark 
followed and the Prince for the first time saw his wife's early 
home. A good deal of shooting was indulged in at and around 
BernsdorfT and from Elsinore, after a few weeks, the Royal 
couple went in their, yacht to Stockholm on a visit to the King 
and Queen of Sweden. The infant, Prince Albert Victor, had 
been with them up to this time but he was now sent home in 
charge of the Countess de Grey and the Prince and Princess 
returned by way of Germany and Belgium. A short stay was 
made with the Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse at 
Darmstadt and another at Brussels. Sandringham was reached 
in time to celebrate the twentieth birthday of the Princess. 

An incident of this year was the personal subscription 
of ^10,000 by the Prince of Wales toward the erection 
of the Frogmore Mausoleum in honour of his father and, it 
may be added, a very marked and significant feature of all his 
speeches during these years was deep respect and admiration 
for the Prince Consort's life and memory. In 1865 the Prince 
made his first State visit to Ireland and on May 9th opened 
the International Exhibition at Dublin. The weather was 
beautiful, the loyal demonstrations in the streets were most 
enthusiastic, the great hall where the ceremony took place was 



78 THE ROYAL MARRIAGE 

decorated with the fla^s of the nations and filled with the most 
distinguished gathering which Ireland could produce. The 
Duke of Leinster, the Earl of Rosse, and all the leading noble- 
men of the country were there, as well as the Lord Mayor 
and Corporation of Dublin in their civic robes, the Mayors of 
Cork and Waterford and Londonderry, the Lord Mayors o£ 
London and York and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. When 
His Royal Highness took his place in the Chair of State an 
orchestra of one thousand voices performed the National 
Anthem and ten thousand other voices joined in song. After 
the ceremony, during which the Prince made two brief 
speeches, he attended in the evening a ball at the Mansion 
House given by the Lord Mayor. Meanwhile the city was 
brilliantly illuminated. In the morning he reviewed a number 
of troops in Phoenix Park and was received with much enthusi- 
asm by the enormous crowds gathered around the scene. 

A little later, on May 19th, the Prince attended the open- 
ing of an International Reformatory' Exhibition at Islington 
and received and answered an address from its President, Lord 
Shaftesbury. Three days afterwards he opened the Sailors' 
Home in the East End of London and was greeted by great 
crowds of cheering people. On June 5th, he marked his lik- 
ing for the Drama by inaugurating the Royal Dramatic Col- 
lege at Woking and six days later received a banquet at the 
hands of the Fishmongers' Company in London. On July 
3rd he was distributing prizes at Wellington College attended 
by the Bishop of Oxford, the Earl of Derby, Earl Stanhope, 
Lord Eversley and others. 



CHAPTER V. 

Early Home Life and Varied Duties 

DURING the years immediately succeeding his marriage 
the career of the Prince of Wales was one of initia- 
tion into the responsibilities of home life and the 
duties of public life. It was a period of moulding influences 
and a round of functions — some perfunctory, some pleasant. 
It was a time of trial for a very young man placed in a very 
high position, and with temptations which might easily have 
led him into temporary and even permanent forgetfulness of the 
responsibilities of the future. Several causes, apart from his 
own natural strength of character, combined to avert such a 
result. The sympathetic and gracious character of his wife 
and the perfection of management and detail which she intro- 
duced into the home life of Sandringham and the more public 
and social life of Marlborough House, were factors of impor- 
tance. The recollection of his father's teachings and high 
ideals and the knowledge of his Royal mother's character and 
devotion to principle were important influences. The growth 
of family ties had its effect, and, finally, the shock of a sick- 
ness in 1 87 1, which brought him to the verge of death and 
showed him the loving affection of the nation, completed the 
process of education in that difficult and dangerous road which 
the youthful Heir to a great Throne must always travel. 

Of the Princess of Wales in these years it is hard to speak 
too highly. Fond of domestic life, retiring by disposition and 
character, caring more for husband and family than for all the 
glitter and glory of the world's greatest functions or positions, 

79 



8o EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 

she yet lived in the blaze of a continuous publicity without 
possible or actual criticism and with a ceaseless and ready charm 
of manner, a never-failing courtesy to high and low, an ever- 
increasing popularity, Amid all the innumerable duties and 
difficulties of her position there has never been a visible mis- 
take committed. The right people have been cultivated and 
encouraged ; the wrong people treated in a way which could 
not be resented nor misunderstood. The right thing has been 
said so often that ir has come to appear the natural thing. 
An atmosphere of ideal refinement has always surrounded her, 
and its subtle influence has pervaded many a brilliant home 
and circle where other influences might easily have prevailed. 
In a time when calumny would attack an Archangel, and when 
its bitter barbs have been known to reach even the humanly 
perfect life of Queen Victoria, no shadow has ever crossed the 
curtain of her character. Of her tact — a quality which she 
possesses in common with the Prince of Wales — stories are 
innumerable, and of her quiet, unostentatious, continuous 
charity and natural kindliness of heart there are as many more. 

A BUSY MARRIED LIFE 

The married life of the Prince and Princess was a busy 
one. Sandrineham had to be remodelled and various public 
duties attended to by the Heir-Apparent. One of the first 
visitors at their country home was the Rev. Arthur Penrhyn 
Stanley, who had been so intimately associated with the edu- 
cation and early life of the Prince, and who was destined to 
always possess the privilege of a personal friend. Of this 
Easter Sunday, following the wedding, Dean Stanley wrote 
in his Diary that " the Princess came to me in a corner of the 
drawing-room with Prayer Book in hand and I went through 
the common service with her, explaining the peculiarities and 
the likenesses and differences from the Danish service. She 
was most simple and fascinating. My visit to Sandringham 



EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 81 

gave me intense pleasure. I was there for three days. I read 
the whole service, preached, then gave the first English Sacra- 
ment to this ' angel in the Palace.' I saw a great deal of her, 
and can truly say she is as charming and beautiful a creature 
as ever passed through a fairy tale." 

THE PRINCE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 

One of the first public appearances of the Prince of Wales 
after his marriage was attendance at the Royal Academy Ban- 
quet on May 2nd, 1863. Sir Charles Eastlake, the President, 
proposed the usual loyal toast, and in responding the young 
Prince is said to have spoken in a particularly clear and pleas- 
ing manner. Of the important personal event to which refer- 
ence had been made he declared that neither the Princess nor 
himself could " ever forget the manner in which our union has 
been celebrated throughout the nation." Amongst the other 
speakers were Lord Palmerston, Mr. W. M. Thackeray and 
Sir Roderick Murchison. The first really important public 
event in the Prince's life at this period was the presentation of 
the freedom of the City of London on June 8th. Invitations 
had been issued to a couple of thousand of the most eminent 
persons in the public, social and diplomatic life of the country 
and exceedingly costly preparations were made for the recep- 
tion, and for the ball and banquet which followed. The Prince 
and Princess of Wales were accompanied by Prince Alfred, 
the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and Princess Mary of 
Cambridge and other Royal personages. The Princess was 
clad in white, with a coronet and brooch of diamonds and a 
necklace of brilliants — the one her husband's wedding present 
and the other that of the City of London. The reply to the 
address and presentation was very brief but appropriate and 
the events which followed were remarkable for their splendour 
and air of general joyousness. 
6 



82 EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 

A week later the Royal couple attended the Commemora- 
tion at Oxford and the Prince of Wales was presented with 
the degree of D. C. L. in the presence of a brilliant assemblage 
of Professors and visitors, and an enthusiastic throng of stu- 
dents. The latter gave the Princess a reception which made 
her flush with mingled nervousness and pleasure though it 
could not affect her natural dignity of bearing. She had not 
yet become accustomed to the overwhelming character which 
British enthusiasm sometimes assumes and, indeed, is said to 
have never absolutely overcome a personal shrinking from the 
publicity which was inseparable from her position and popu- 
larity. However that may be, the feeling was never shown 
to the people and, if a fact, can only be considered as enhanc- 
ing the graciousness of manner which has been so marked a 
characteristic of her life in England. During this brief visit 
to Oxford Their Royal Highnesses distributed prizes to the 
Rifle Volunteers, opened a bazaar in aid of the Radcliffe 
Infirmary, inspected the exhibits at the Horticultural Show, 
and went over the Prince's one-time college residence at 
Frewen Hall. 

A hasty visit to the North of England in August was 
made to include the opening ceremony for a new Town Hall 
at Halifax and here the Royal couple received a most hearty 
welcome. Another function was the opening of the British 
Orphan Asylum on June 24th by the Prince, who became its 
Patron and promoted large subscriptions to its work — one of 
which from Mr. Edward Mackensie totalled $60,000. Though 
this was a very quiet year in comparison with those of the 
future, His Royal Highness extended his patronage, usually 
accompanied by liberal subscriptions, to eight public charities, 
eight hospitals and asylums, five agricultural societies and 
eleven learned and scientific societies — including the Society 
of Arts of which he became President. His first work in this 
latter connection was to promote and obtain a fund for sending 



EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 83 

a number of British workmen to the Paris Exhibition with 
a view to improving their mechanical and technical knowledge. 
He also associated himself with the Mendicity Society by 
means of which all the innumerable appeals for aid which 
came to him from time to time were investigated, sifted, and 
reported upon before action was taken. On May 18, 1864 
the Prince presided for the first time at the Royal Literary 
Fund banquet and thus commenced a long period of active 
patronage toward an institution which has served a most use- 
ful purpose in England — the quick and secret dispensing of 
aid to literary men who from some cause or other might be 
destitute, or in need. Its objects were not local but inter- 
national and in his speech on this occasion His Royal Hio-h- 
ness pointed how well and quietly the work had been done. 

THE PRINCESS AND HER FAMILY. 

Early in the year the first-born child of the Royal couple 
arrived on the scene. The event had been expected for 
March 1864 but the infant was born at Frogmore on January 
9th and was christened on March 10th as Albert Victor Chris- 
tian Edward. From infancy the Prince was somewhat delicate 
and, no doubt for that reason, was always supposed to be his 
mother's favourite child. The Princess of Wales was, at this 
time, not yet twenty but was devoted to her domestic duties 
and especially to the new arrival in their home. She would 
rather visit the nursery at any time than attend a State func- 
tion or ball. Other children came in the following years. 
Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert, afterwards Prince of 
Wales, was born on June 3, 1865; Princess Louise Victoria 
Alexandra Dagmar, afterwards Duchess of Fife, on February 
20, 1867; Princess Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary on July 
6, 1868; and Princess Maud Charlotte Mary Victoria, some- 
time to be Princess Charles of Denmark, on November 26, 



84 EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 

1869. In 1 87 1 Prince Alexander John Charles Albeit was 
born, but only lived for one brief day. 

As these children came one by one they found a most 
happy home circle and a devoted mother. In all their little 
amusements and games the Princess took part ; in their train- 
ing and education she took a watchful share ; in their lives as 
a whole simplicity was made the guiding principle, as it had 
been in the Royal family of the past generation. From all 
accounts which are open to us she delighted much more in the 
nursery than in society. Dr. William Jenner saw the Royal 
children whenever necessary but the "coddling" so often seen 
in modern homes was unknown at Sandringham. The Prince 
believed as much in simplicity of bringing up as did his wife 
and, by special order, the Household and servants never used 
the prefix of "Royal Highness" to the children but addressed 
them as Prince Eddy, or Princess Louise, or whatever the 
name might be. The little girls, as their father always called 
them, had their tea with the nurses and were given few toys 
and never allowed to accept presents. No fuss was made 
over the little accidents inevitable to childhood and in every 
way life was kept devoid of state formality, or anything that 
would breed a sense of childish self-importance. When the 
Prince and Princess were away from home, as they frequently 
had to be, letters were daily exchanged with the head nurse. 
The result of this general system and of the later plan of 
making the young Princesses more and more companions of 
their mother and the boys, as far as circumstances would per- 
mit, of their father, created and maintained at Sandringham 
one of the most pleasant home circles in all England. An 
illustration of the spirit in which domestic anniversaries and 
incidents were approached may be found in lines composed by 
the Princess, on one occasion, for Prince George when the 
family were commencing to celebrate the birthday of the- 




THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD, P.C, G.C.B. 

Premier of the Canadas in 1860 and first Premier of the Dominion. 





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EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 85 

husband and father. The thought was admirable even if the 
poetry was not quite perfect : 

" Day of pleasure, brightly dawning, 
Take the gift of this sweet morning, 
Our best hopes and wishes blending 
Must yield joy that's never ending." 

During these years the Prince of Wales was gradually 
assuming many of the duties and public tasks which would 
have devolved upon the Queen, or in earlier days have been 
performed with such fidelity and care by the Prince Consort. 
At this time the Queen was living in strict retirement and for 
a long period still to follow she maintained the same sorrow- 
ing seclusion in a more or less modified form. Toward the 
close of 1865 the death of Lord Palmerston removed a states- 
man in whom the Prince had found a personal friend and whom 
he had consulted and greatly trusted in private matters. In 
February, 1866, the Queen made one of her rare public ap- 
pearances and opened Parliament, in person, accompanied by 
the Prince and Princess of Wales. A little later came the 
cholera epidemic which killed one hundred thousand people in 
Austria and caused a number of deaths in England. To the 
Mansion House Relief Fund, which ultimately reached the 
total of $350,000 and to another Fund, the Prince contributed 
$17,500. In August the Royal couple visited Studley Royal, 
the seat of the Earl de Grey and Ripon — better known after- 
wards as the Marquess of Ripon — and were given a great 
reception in the City of York. An incident of the latter occa- 
sion was a sudden downpour of rain during which the Prince 
stood up in his carriage, bareheaded, so that the people should 
not be disappointed. 

VARIOUS PUBLIC FUNCTIONS AND EVENTS. 

A little before this, on May 9th, the President and Coun- 
cil of the Institution of Civil Engineers entertained the Heir 



86 EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 

Apparent at a banquet in London and amongst the other 
guests were the veteran Field Marshal Sir John Burgoyne, 
the Dukes of Sutherland and Buccleuch, Earl Grey, Lord 
Salisbury, Sir John Pakington, Sir Edwin Landseer, Sir 
Richard Owen and many other eminent scientists and leaders 
of the time. During his speech the Prince paid a tribute to 
the work of Brunei and Stephenson and, in the latter connec- 
tion, referred to the great bridge across the St. Lawrence, in 
Canada, which he had inaugurated in i860 and to which he 
gave the credit for an opportunity to visit British America and 
the United States. On June 11th His Royal Highness had 
also laid the foundation of the new building of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society in London. He was received formally 
by the President, the Earl of Shaftsbury, the Lord Mayor, 
the Archbishop of York and others and, in the course of his 
speech, pointed out that the Society had already spent $30,- 
000,000 in the promotion of its objects and in the translation 
of the Bible into two hundred and eighty different languages 
and dialects. After referring to the efforts in this cause by 
his grandfather, the Duke of Kent, the Prince went on to say 
that " it is my hope and trust that, under Divine guidance, the 
wider diffusion and deeper study of the Scriptures will, in this 
as in every age, be at once the surest guarantee of the progress 
and liberty of the mind and the means of multiplying in the 
present time the consolations of our holy religion." 

The next function shared in was the anniversary gather- 
ing of the Clergy Corporation, attended by the Archbishops of 
Canterbury, York and Armagh, the Marquess of Salisbury and 
other dignitaries. In his speech the Prince pointed out that 
there were ten thousand clergymen in the United Kingdom 
whose benefices were of less value than $750 a year and 
urged the usefulness of an institution which distributed $20,000 
per annum to orphans and unmarried daughters of clergymen 
as well as temporary aid to necessitous clergymen themselves, 



EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 87 

The result of his appeal was a subscription of $6,000 to 
which he contributed $525 personally. On June 18th he 
inaugurated a Warehousemen and Clerks' School at Croydon at 
a gathering presided over by Earl Russell and ten days later 
visited the Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum in the suburbs 
of London. In August the Prince and Princess of Wales 
made one of their first public appearances in the County where: 
they had made their country home and where the Prince ^o 
well embodied the hearty, healthy life, of the English gentle- 
man. Duriug the month, therefore, they paid a visit to Nor- 
wich as the principal town of Norfolk and, accompanied by 
the Queen of Denmark and the Duke of Edinburgh, attended 
one of Sir Michael Costa's oratorios, opened a Drill-hall, 
planted memorial trees and in other ways helped to make the 
occasion memorable to the people of the ancient town. 

A visit followed in the autumn to the Duke and Duchess 
of Sutherland, at their splendid Castle of Dunrobin, in the 
north of Scotland. In driving twenty-five miles from the 
station to the Castle a most enthusiastic welcome was received 
along the entire route. In reviewing the Sutherland Volun- 
teers during his stay the Prince expressed a wish that the 
Corps would wear the kilt as their uniform and this was, of 
course, done with the greatest pleasure. Shortly after the re- 
turn from Scotland the Queen of Denmark came again to 
England and stayed for some time at Sandringham with her 
daughter. Late in the year (November) the Prince of Wales 
went to St. Petersburg to attend in 'an official capacity the 
marriage of the Princess Dagmar of Denmark — sister of his 
wife — to the Czarewitch who afterwards became Alexander III. 
The cold was deemed a sufficiently strong reason for the Prin- 
cess not to accompany him. In his suite were Lord Frederick 
Paulet, the Marquess of Blandford, Viscount Hamilton, and 
Major Teesdale. He was welcomed at the station by the 
Emperor, the Czarewitch and others of the Imperial family and 



88 EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 

given splendid quarters at the Hermitage Palace. After the 
marriage he visited Moscow, accompanied by the Crown Prince 
of Denmark, went over the historic Kremlin and called on the 
Metropolitan, the highest dignitary in the. Russian Church, 
who received his Royal visitor in a cell and gave him his bless- 
ing after a brief conversation. 

The year 1867 was marked by a painful illness of the 
Princess through acute rheumatism and inflammation of a 
knee-joint. During the serious period of the illness the Prince 
devoted himself to the invalid, never leaving her side unless 
compelled to do so and having his desk brought into the sick- 
room so that he might carry on his correspondence in her 
presence. It was not until July that the Princess was able to 
drive out and during the rest of the year the Royal couple 
lived very quietly and made as few public appearances as pos- 
sible. It was in the beginning of this year that Princess 
Louise, afterwards Duchess of Fife, was born. Some func- 
tions had to be performed, however, and they included the 
presiding at a meeting of the National Lifeboat Institution 
and at the one hundred and fifty-second anniversary festival 
of the Welsh Society of Ancient Britons, on March 1st ; a visit 
to the International Exhibition at Paris in May; and the 
presence of the Prince at the laying of the foundation stone 
of the Albert Hall, in London, later in the same month. On 
July 10th His Royal Highness inaugurated the London Inter- 
national College, which had been organized by Mr. Cobden 
and M. Michel Chevalier, as a branch of an international insti- 
tution. At the luncheon were the Due d'Aumale, the Prince 
de Joinville and the Comte de Paris as well as Professor Hux- 
ley and Dr. Leonard Schmitz, the head of the institution. In 
his speech the Prince pointed out the usefulness of a College 
which would more or less devote itself to the teaching of 
modern languages at a time when the interests of varied 
nationalities were becoming so intermingled. 



EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 89 

An interesting event occurred in July when Ismail Pasha, 
Khedive of Egypt, visited England, as his father had done 
twenty-one years before. At a banquet in the Mansion 
Home, on July 1 ith, a distinguished gathering met to do him 
honour and amongst them were the Prince of Wales, the 
Duke of Cambridge, Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar and 
many men eminent in politics and diplomacy. In his speech 
the Prince spoke of his personal indebtedness to the late Khe- 
dive for kindness received during his own visit to Egypt in 
1862 and, also, of the national importance of the facilities given 
by that country to England in the transit of troops to India. 
He then referred to the illness of the Princess and to the 
words in that connection used by the Lord Mayor. " I know 
I only express her feelings when I say that she has been 
deeply touched by that universal good feeling and sympathy 
which has been shown to her during her long and painful ill- 
ness. Thank God, she has now nearly recovered and I trust 
that in a month's time she will be able to leave London and 
enjoy the benefits of fresh air." 

ROYAL VISIT TO IRELAND. 

The Prince of Wales early in his public life showed his 
sympathy with the people of Ireland. He had already visited 
Dublin in 1865 and, on March 17, 1868, while planning a 
State visit to that country, attended a brilliant celebration of 
the anniversary of St. Patrick's birth, in Willis's Rooms, Lon- 
don. Amongst those present were the Archbishop of Armagh, 
the Bishop of Derry, the Earl of Longford, the Earl of Mayo 
and Lord Kimberley. The Prince, in his speech, expressed 
the belief that despite disagreeable occurrences of the past 
few years the people of Ireland generally were "thoroughly 
true and loyal." On April 15th the Prince and Princess of 
Wales landed at Kingstown and were received with tremen- 
dous acclaim. With his usual tact the Prince asked that no 



9 o EARLY HOME LIEE AND VARIED DUTIES 

troops should be present in the streets. The Princess, who 
was dressed in Irish poplin, was presented with a white dove, 
emblematic of peace, and fairly captured the hearts of the 
populace. The visit lasted ten days and included amongst its 
functions a gorgeous installation of the Prince as a Knight of 
St. Patrick, when he used the sword worn by George IV. on 
a similar occasion ; his presence at the Punchestown races— 
where the Royal couple appeared in open carriages and 
received an enthusiastic welcome ; attendance at the Royal 
Hibernian Academy's rooms and at the Royal Dublin Society's 
Conversazione ; a visit to the Catholic University and the 
receipt of an LL.D. — together with the Duke of Cambridge 
and Lord Abercorn, the Lord Lieutenant — from Trinity Col- 
lege ; a visit to the Cattle Show and a Royal review of troops ; 
attendance at Sunday service in historic Christ Church ; per- 
sonal visits to Lord Powerscourt's beautiful place in Wicklow 
and to the Duke of Leinster at Carton ; a formal visit to 
Maynooth College and the unveiling in Dublin of a statue of 
Edmund Burke. 

The London Times described the crowded life of those 
ten days in rather interesting language : " There were presen- 
tations and receptions, and receiving and answering addresses, 
processions, walking, riding and driving, in morning and even- 
ing, in military, academic and mediaeval attire. The Prince 
had to breakfast, lunch, dine and sup with more or less public- 
ity every twenty-four hours. He had to go twice to races with 
fifty or a hundred thousand people about him ; to review a 
small army and make a tour in the Wicklow Mountains, every- 
where receiving addresses under canopies and dining in state 
under galleries full of spectators. He visited and inspected 
institutions, colleges, universities, academies, libraries and 
cattle shows. He had to take a very active part in assemblies 
of from several hundred to several thousand dancers and 
always to select for his partners the most important personages. 



EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 9 r 

He had to listen to many speeches sufficiently to know 
when and what to answer. He had to examine with respect- 
ful interest pictures, books, antiquities, relics, manuscripts, 
specimens, bones, fossils, prize beasts and works of Irish art. 
He had never to be unequal to the occasion, however different 
from the last, or however like the last, and whatever his disad- 
vantage as to the novelty or dullness of the matter and the 
scene." 

On April 25th the Royal visitors returned to Holyhead 
and on their way home stopped at Carnarvon, the birthplace 
of the first Prince of Wales, where a banquet was received and 
a brief speech made by the living successor of a great King's 
son. Among the incidents connected with this visit was the 
fact that while the Prince was freely passing through and 
amongst the people of the Irish capital his brother, the Duke 
of Edinburgh, was shot at Clontarf, Australia, by an Irishman 
named O'Farrell, while he was accepting the hospitality of a 
local Sailors' Home. Another was the tact and judgment dis- 
played by the Heir Apparent in forwarding a cheque to the 
Dublin Hospital Sunday Fund after his return home. This 
institution had then and has since exercised a most beneficial 
effect upon Irish hospital affairs ; but the marvel was that the 
Prince should have found time amid his multifarious duties 
and functions to look into its management and influence. May 
the 5th, saw the Prince attending the sixty-second anniversary 
of the " Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress" and 
pointing out in a preliminary speech that the Queen had taken 
deep interest in this charity ever since her accession in 1837. 
In proposing the health of the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
Sir Travers Twiss, the Advocate-General, said that though it 
was not generally known, he would take the liberty of stating 
that during His Royal Highness' Eastern travels he had passed 
through no great city without visiting and helping any institu- 
tions which might exist in aid of suffering humanity. 



92 EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 

Eight days later the Prince presided at the annual ban- 
quet of the Governors of St. Bartholomew's Hospital — after 
visiting and inspecting the wards. During the same day His 
Royal Highness attended a great state function in the laying 
of the foundation of St. Thomas' Hospital by the Queen in 
person. The last important matter in which the Prince took 
part before leaving for his second Eastern tour was the laying 
of the foundation stone of new buildings for Glasgow Univer- 
sity on October 8th. They cost over two millions of dollars 
and in the stately proceedings accompanying this event, the 
Princess of Wales was able to participate. From November 
1868 to May 1869 the Royal couple were in the distant East, 
but, on the Queen's birthday in the latter year, the Prince of 
Wales was able to be present at the anniversary banquet of the 
Royal Geographical Society and to receive congratulations on 
having been instrumental in effecting the appointment of his 
late travelling companion, Sir Samuel Baker, to the govern- 
ment of the Soudan region in Africa, under the control of the 
Egyptian Government and with the object of suppressing the 
slave trade. His Royal Highness warmly eulogized Sir S. 
Baker — who had also just received the Society's medal for the 
year — and the events of the evening were considered to have 
made the occasion memorable. Prince Hassan of Egypt was 
present and amongst the speakers were Sir Roderick Murchi- 
son, Admiral Sir George Back, Professor Owen, the Duke of 
Sutherland, Dr. W. H. Russell, Sir Francis Grant P. R. A., 
and Sir Henry Rawlinson. 

The next two or three years saw the Prince participating 
in many public and more or less important events. Accom- 
panied by the Princess of Wales he laid the foundation of new 
buildings in connection with the Earlswood Asylum, in Surrey, 
on June 28, 1869. An incident of this event was not only the 
usual gift of a hundred guineas by the Prince but a procession 
of ladies who passed up to the dais in single file and deposited 




THE HON. SIR CHARLES TUPPER, BART., G.C.M.G., C.B. 

A Canadian guest at the coronation 



EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 93 

upwards of four hundred purses, which they had collected 
for the Charity, under the influence of Royal patronage and 
encouragement. On July 7th Their Royal Highnesses visited 
Lynn, inaugurated the new Alexandra Dock, and took part in 
several local events. A state visit to Manchester followed, on 
July 29th, and the Prince opened the annual exhibition of the 
Royal Agricultural Society of England, of which he was Presi- 
dent, and was given a warm welcome in and around the city. 
On the succeeding day he inaugurated a new dock at Hull. 

Meanwhile, on July 23rd, the Prince had visited London 
in order to unveil a statue of George Peabody, the distin- 
guished American philanthropist. At the ceremony Sir Ben- 
jamin Phillips, Chairman of the Committee, addressed the 
Prince formally and thus concluded : " Let us hope that this 
statue, erected by the sons of free England to the honour of 
one of Columbia's truest and noblest citizens, may be symbol- 
ical of the peace and good will that exist between the two 
countries." In replying His Royal Highness spoke of Mr. 
Peabody as a great American citizen and of his gift of over a 
quarter of a million pounds sterling to the charities of a country 
not his own, as being unexampled, and concluded as follows : 
" Be assured that the feelings which I personally entertain 
toward America are the same as they ever were. I can never 
forget the reception which I had there nine years ago and my 
earnest wish and hope is that England and America may go 
hand in hand in peace and prosperity." Following the example 
of King William IV., when Duke of Clarence, and of the late 
Dukes of Kent, Sussex and Cambridge, the Prince of Wales 
presided on November 30th at the anniversary banquet of the 
Scottish Corporation — or as it was popularly called the Scot- 
tish Hospital — in order to mark his approval of an institution 
which had done much to assist, by means of pensions, poor and 
aged natives of Scotland living in London ; to afford temporary 
relief to Scotchmen in distress ; or to educate poor Scottish 



94 EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 

children. On this occasion there was a larofe eatherintr which 
included Prince Christian and the Duke of Roxburghe and, 
after a speech from the Prince describing the objects and work 
of the institution, it was announced that $12,500 had been 
specially subscribed to the purposes of the Hospital — including 
$500 from the Prince of Wales himself. 

Exhibitions, in the years between his coming of age and his 
accession to the Throne, were always favourite objects of atten- 
tion and support at the hands of Heir Apparent. He had 
already studied closely his father's conduct of the first great 
International Exhibition, and had himself opened one of the 
same kind atDublin, and been present at an International Refor- 
matory gathering and at the Paris Exhibition. On April 4th, 

1870, he presided at a meeting of the Society of Arts called to 
promote an International Educational Exhibition for the suc- 
ceeding year. Resolutions were passed to this end, and after 
an explanatory speech from His Royal Highness and, it may 
be added here, the Exhibition was duly opened on May 1st, 

1 87 1, by the Prince of Wales, with imposing pageantry and 
with details worked out by his assistant in various future 
undertakings — Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen. On May 16, 1870, the 
Prince presided at the annual banquet of the Royal General 
Theatrical Fund, established as far back as 1839, f° r tne relief 
and assistance of members, and of widows and orphans of mem- 
bers, of the dramatic profession. During the evening, after a 
speech from the Royal chairman, Mr. Buckstone, the well-known 

, actor, spoke in warm words of the kindness of the Prince in 
attending their function : "The duties he has to perform are 
so numerous and fatiguing that we only wonder how he gets 
through them all. Even within these few days he has held a 
Levee ; on Saturday last he patronized a performance at 
Drury Lane in aid of the Dramatic College; then had to run 
away to Freemasons' Hall to be present at the installation of 
the Grand Master; and now we find him in the chair this 



EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 95 

evening ; so what with conversaziones, laying foundation stones, 
opening schools, and other calls upon his little leisure, I think 
he may be looked upon as one of the hardest working men in 
Her Majesty's dominions." This was a fact or condition not 
recognized very generally in those days ; in afteryears it became 
a truism in popular opinion. 

St. George's Hospital received the combined patronage 
of the Prince and Princess on May 26th. The former occu- 
pied the chair and made an earnest appeal for aid to this most 
deserving institution. The Earl of Cadogan, who was one of 
the Treasurers, announced a little later in the evening that the 
Prince of Wales had handed him a check for two hundred 
guineas, the Princess one for fifty guineas, and the Marquess of 
Westminster — afterwards the first Duke of that name — one 
for two hundred guineas. Amongst the other speakers on 
this occasion were Earl Granville, the Earl of Derby, the Earl 
of Carnarvon and Mr. W. H. Smith, M.P. On June 21st, His 
Royal Highness opened a new building in connection with 
Dulwich College in Surrey ; nine days later he and the Princess 
opened new schools for the children of seamen nearthe London 
Docks; on July 1st they visited in state the ancient town of 
Reading and laid the foundation stone of a new Grammar 
School. A week later the Prince had the congenial task of 
giving the Albert gold medal of the Society of Arts to M. de 
Lesseps. As President of the Society he addressed the father 
of the Suez Canal, in French, and congratulated him upon the 
completion of his great undertaking, not only in a public capac- 
ity, but "as a personal friend." In his reply, M. de Lesseps 
said that he had received much private encouragement from the 
late Prince Consort in the early stages of his enterprise, and 
that he could never forget that fact. It may be added here 
that the presentation of this Medal was always a peculiar plea- 
sure to the Prince of Wales, and that amongst those in after 



96 EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 

years who received it at his hands were Sir Henry Bessemer, 
M. Chevalier and Sir Henry Doulton. 

On July 13th His Royal Highness, on behalf of the Queen, 
and accompanied by the Princess Louise and the grand officers 
of the Household, opened with elaborate ceremony the new 
Thames Embankment. Three days later he opened the 
Workmen's International Exhibition at Islington in the name 
of the Queen. During this year the war between France and 
Germany caused the Prince and his family keen interest and 
many natural anxieties. He arranged for a special telegraph 
service so that news might reach him at once and took an 
active part in associations and subscription lists for aid to the 
wounded on both sides. The Royal family had such close 
relations with that of Prussia through the Princess Royal and 
with that of France through long personal friendship with the 
Emperor and Empress that the position of individual members, 
like the Heir Apparent, and his wife could be easily under- 
stood. 

The Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences was opened 
with stately and imposing ceremony by the Queen on March 
29th, 187 1. When Her Majesty, accompanied by the Princess 
of Wales and other members of the Royal family, had taken 
her place on the dais of a Hall containing eight thousand people 
and an orchestra of twelve hundred persons, under Sir Michael 
Costa, the Prince of Wales advanced and, as President of the 
Provisional Committee, detailed the origin and history of the 
project. He then, after receiving a formal reply, declared the 
Hall open in the name of the Queen. On May 7th, following, 
the Prince presided at a dinner in aid of the Artists' Orphan 
Fund and, after explaining its useful objects, expressed the 
wish that further contributions would be offered for the pur- 
pose in view. At the close of the affair the Treasurer an- 
nounced subscriptions to the amount of $60,000, of which a 
check for $525 was from the Royal chairman. The Earlswood 



EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 97 

Asylum for Idiots was again visited by the Prince on May 
17th, when he presided at the anniversary dinner of the 
institution in London and explained its continued progress. 
Subscriptions of $21,000 were announced, of which $525 were 
given by the Prince. The same result followed his chairman- 
ship of a dinner in aid of the Farningham Homes for Little 
Boys on June 2nd. He pointed out that the institution was 
still in need despite a recent anonymous contribution of $5000. 
Before the close of the evening some $17,000 had been sub- 
scribed, including $750 from His Royal Highness. Such 
incidents, often repeated, indicate better than many words 
the value attached to the Prince's presence and support of 
deserving charities, and they also afford some proof of the 
generous expenditure of his private means for public benefit. 
On June 28th, the Prince acted as Chairman of the anniver- 
sary festival of the Royal Caledonian Asylum in London. 
There were three hundred and fifty guests present, mostly in 
Highland costume, and amongst them were Prince Arthur and 
the Duke of Cambridge, the Dukes of Buccleuch and Rich- 
mond, the Marquess of Lome and Marquess of Huntly, the 
Earls of Fife, Mar, and March. 

On July 31st His Royal Highness again paid a visit to 
Dublin. He was accompanied by the Princess Louise, the 
Marquess of Lome, and the young Prince Arthur — better 
known in later years as the Duke of Connaught. An address 
was presented at Kingstown by the Lord Mayor and Cor- 
poration and, on the following day, the Royal visitors witnessed 
a cricket match, lunched with the officers of the Grenadier 
Guards and inspected the cattle, horses, and sheep of the 
Royal Agricultural Society's annual show. In the evening the 
Prince of Wales presided at a great banquet of four hundred 
and fifty guests, with galleries thronged with ladies. He made 
several brief speeches and a particularly happy one in pro- 
posing the health of Earl Spencer, the Lord-Lieutenant of 
7 



9 S EARLY HOME LIFE AND VARIED DUTIES 

Ireland. A series of engagements and entertainments followed, 
amongst which were a brilliant military review in Phoenix 
Park and the installation of the Prince as Grand Patron of the 
Masonic Institution in Ireland. This was the last important 
, event taken part in by His Royal Highness before the serious 
illness which, a little later, so greatly stirred the nation and 
affected himself. 



\ CHAPTER VI. 

Travels in the East 

BEFORE he came to the Throne the Prince of Wales had 
long been the most travelled man in Europe. He had 
visited every Court and capital and centre upon that 
Continent ; he had toured the North American Continent from 
the capital of Canada to the capital of the United States and 
from the historic heights of Ouebec to the great western 
centre at Chicago ; he had visited the most noted lands of the 
distant East. 

FROM EUROPE TO AFRICA. 

In 1862, his first visit to Egypt and the Holy Land 
had taken place, and now, six years later, he was to make 
a more imposing and important tour of those and other 
countries in the company of his wife. On November 17th, 
1868, the Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied by their 
three eldest children and by Lady Carmarthen, General Sir 
W. Knollys, Lieut.-Col. Keppel and Dr. Minter, left for the 
Continent and reached Compiegne on the morning of the 20th 
inst., in order to pay a visit to the Emperor and Empress of the 
French. An incident of the hunt which took place that after- 
noon was the rush of a stag at the Prince who, with his horse, 
was completely knocked over. Amongst the shooting party 
were Marshal Bazaine, the Baron Von Moltke, the Marquess of 
Lansdowne and other well-known men of the day. After a 
stay of a few days here and at Paris the Royal party proceeded 
on their journey and reached Copenhagen on November 29th. 
The birthday of the Princess was celebrated two days later in 
her old home. 

99 



ioo TRA VELS IN THE EAST 

Stockholm was reached on December 16th, and a visit of 
some days' duration paid to the King of Sweden. On De- 
cember 28th the Prince and Princess were back again with the 
Royal family of Denmark and attended a State Ball at the 
Christianborg Palace. In the middle of January they em- 
barked in the yacht Freya, and at Hamburg the Royal children 
were sent home in charge of Lady Carmarthen, Sir William 
Knollys and Colonel Keppel. At Berlin, on January 17th, 
they were welcomed by the Crown Prince and Princess of 
Prussia — the Princess Royal of England — and by Lord 
Augustus Loftus, the British Ambassador. On the following 
day His Royal Highness was invested with the famous order 
of the Black Eagle by the King of Prussia. Amongst the 
limited number of Knights Grand Cross who were present at 
the Chapter were the Baron Von Moltke, General Von Roon, 
Count Von Waldersee, and Count Von Wrangel. From Berlin, 
where the Prince and Princess were joined by those who were 
to accompany them on their further journey and including Col- 
onel Teesdale, V. C, Captain Ellis, Lord Carington, Mr. Oliver 
Montague, Dr. Minter and the Hon. Mrs. William Grey, the 
Royal party went to Vienna which was reached on January 
2 1 st. At the station they were received by the Emperor 
Francis Joseph and various members of the Austrian Royal 
family together with Prince Von Hohenlohe and Lord Bloom- 
field, the British Ambassador. State visits, dinners, the 
theatre, skating and a private visit to the King and Queen of 
Hanover in their retirement at Hietsing, constituted the pro- 
gramme of the next few days. Vienna was left on January 
27th, and from Trieste, on the following day, sail was made 
on board H. M. S. Ariadne and Alexandria reached on Febru- 
ary 3rd. 

TRIP UP THE NILE. 

After their formal reception at Alexandria by Mehemet 
Tewfik Pasha, Shereef Pasha, Mourad Pasha, Sir Samuel 



TRAVELS IN THE EAS1 101 

Baker and others, the Prince and Princess proceeded to Cairo 
where they were warmly welcomed by the Khedive, and met 
by the Duke of Sutherland and his son, Lord Stafford, Pro- 
fessor Owen, Colonel Marshall and the special correspondent, 
Dr. W. H. Russell. The latter gentlemen joined the Royal 
party and were to proceed with them on the journey up the 
Nile together with Prince Louis of Battenberg and Lord 
Albert Gower. Before starting on this voyage, however, the 
Prince and Princess were privileged in witnessing the curious 
Procession of the Holy Carpet and the departure of a portion 
of the annual stream of pilgrims for Mecca. The Princess and 
Mrs. Grey were also invited, on February 5th, to dine at the 
Harem with the Khedive's mother and the ceremonies, as 
described by Mrs. Grey in her Diary of the tour, were exceed- 
ingly interesting. A multitude of smartly dressed female 
slaves in coloured satin and gold ; services of silver and gold ; 
dishes of the most peculiar and varied composition and taste ; 
music by bands of girls and dances by other bands of women — 
some of whose motions were described by Mrs. Grey as grace- 
ful and others as "simply frightful;" drinks of curious char- 
acter and pipes and cigarettes with holders ornamented by 
masses of precious gems ; costumes which partook of both the 
Eastern and Western character ; jewels and gold in every 
direction and upon every possible kind of object — such were 
some of the things seen during the visit. In the evening of 
the same day the Royal couple and suite went to the theatre, 
and afterwards the Prince had supper with the Khedive at the 
Palace of Gizerek, accompanied with elaborate ceremonies and 
a succession of dancing spectacles. 

Meanwhile, every care had been exercised by the Khedive 
in preparing comforts for the Royal guests up the Nile. The 
chief barge was occupied by the Prince and Princess and the 
Hon. Mrs. Grey, who was in attendance upon the latter ; a 
second was occupied by the Suite; a third by the Duke of 



io2 TRA VELS IN THE EAST 

Sutherland's party ; a fourth was used as a store-boat and con- 
tained 3,000 bottles of champagne, 20,000 bottles of soda- 
water, 4,000 bottles of claret and plenty of ale, liquors and 
light wines. Sir Samuel Baker, who was at this time Gover- 
nor of the Soudan region, accompanied the Prince and had with 
him an abundance of guns and nets for capturing crocodiles, 
etc. During the slow progress up the river there was plenty 
of sport, and His Royal Highness won fine specimens of 
spoonbills, flamingoes, herons, cranes, cormorants, doves, etc. 

THEY VISIT SITES OF ANCIENT CITIES. 

During the early part of the trip there was not much that 
was interesting ; apart from the shooting expeditions which 
were undertaken from time to time. The sio-ht of frightened 
children, timid women, labouring slaves, mosques and villages 
of huts and occasional ruins of more or less interest were all 
that was visible along the low banks of the river as they 
passed. The caves, or grottoes, of Beni Hassan were visited 
on February 10, and the life of ancient peoples seen in a pano- 
rama of carved monuments. Then came a more beautiful, 
cultivated and populous part of the region watered by the 
Nile. Thebes, Luxor, Karnak, however, were names and 
places which made up for much. For two days, ending Feb- 
ruary 19th, the heir to a thousand years of English sov- 
ereignty wandered amidst these tombs and monuments of the 
rulers of an African empire which had wielded vast power and 
created works of wonderful skill and genius three, and five 
thousand years before. The great hall and collonades and 
pillars of Karnac, the obelisk of Luxor, the famous tombs of 
the Kings, the Temples of Rameses, the colossal statues of 
Egyptian rulers, were visited by daylight, and, in some cases, 
the wondrous effect of Oriental moonlight upon these massive 
shapes and memorials of a mighty past was also witnessed. 



TRAVELS IN THE EAST io3 

Philae with its interesting ruins, Assouan with its modern 
history, Korosko, Dere, the early capital of Nubia, the great 
Temple at Aboo Simbel, were seen, and, finally, after the 
Prince had killed his first crocodile, on February 28th, and the 
party had made an uncomfortable trip across a hot waste of 
desert, Wady Halfah was reached on March 2nd, and the 
journey back was commenced. On their return a special trip 
was made by the Prince and Princess to the Pyramids of Ghizeh, 
accompanied by Mehemet Tewfik, the Khedive's son, with an 
escort from Cairo. The Prince ascended the biggest of the 
Pyramids and the party was royally entertained afterwards in 
a pavilion specially erected for the purpose. 

INTERESTING RUINS ARE VISITED. 

The Prince and Princess also visited the Royal chambers 
in the great Pyramid. A delightful drive to Cairo followed, 
and the party soon found themselves comfortably installed in 
the Esbekiah Palace. On the following day a visit was paid to 
the great Mosque where lie the revered bones of Mehemet 
Ali, under an embroidered velvet catafalque. One of the 
graceful minarets was ascended and a splendid panorama of 
the city seen. On March 18 the Tombs of the Caliphs, with 
their picturesque but ruined mosques, were visited, and in the 
evening the theatre was attended, in company with His 
Highness, the Khedive. A visit to the Baulak Museum fol- 
lowed and was rendered thoroughly interesting by the presence 
of the learned Orientalist, Marriette Bey, who showed the 
Prince and Princess a bust of the Pharaoh "who would not 
let the children of Israel go," and one of the other Phar- 
aohs, who was a friend of Moses. Sir W. H. Russell is 
authority for the statement that the slightly incredulous smile 
of the Princess brought out a most concise, learned and con- 
vincing explanation of history and hieroglyphics in this con- 
nection, 



io 4 TRA VELS IN THE EAST 

On the evening of March 19th the Khedive gave a State 
Dinner in honour of his Royal guests at the Garden Kiosk of 
the new Palace of Gizeh. The grounds were brilliantly illu- 
minated, those present included all that was eminent in the life 
of Egypt, the viands were served upon the richest plate, 
the native fireworks sent up afterwards were most attractive. 
The Hon. Mrs. Grey, in her Diary, says that "standing in the 
outer marble court, with its beautiful Moorish arches and its 
pillars of rich brown colour, their bases and capitals profusely 
and brilliantly decorated, and looking on every side at the 
tastefully illuminated gardens, the effect produced was indeed 
most splendid and carried one at once back in imagination to 
one of the scenes you read of in the Arabian Nights. It is quite 
impossible to describe it, but I shall never forget this beautiful 
sight." The writer then goes on to describe the splendid 
architecture and tasteful furniture of the building and rooms. 
Most of the latter were decorated in white and gold, with 
myriads of mirrors, rich silk curtains and furniture with all the 
soft and brilliant colourings of the old Arabesque style. 
There were fountains everywhere, and the floors were inlaid 
marble, porphery and alabaster. 

Following this function came a visit to the British 
Mission School, where the Princess greatly charmed the chil- 
dren ; a state visit to the races in a carriage drawn by six 
horses, and with coachmen and postilions wearing most gorge- 
ous liveries of scarlet and gold. The Suite were also splen- 
didly equipped in regard to carriages and outriders, and the 
streets were lined with troops. The races were well conducted 
and the general ceremonies of the occasion worthy of Ismail, 
the Khedive. This was to have been the last function prior to 
departure for the Suez Canal, but it was now decided to 
accept the pressing invitation of His Highness and stay three 
days longer. Following upon this decision came a series of 
visits paid by the Princess of Wales to the wives, or harems, of 



TRA VELS IN THE EAST io5 

certain distinguished Egyptian gentlemen, and, finally, to the 
harem of the Khedive. 

Amongst the places visited were the homes of Murad 
Pasha, Abd-el-Kader Bey and Achmet Bey. On March 23d 
the Princess, with a couple of attendant ladies, visited the 
Khedive's mother — the real ruler of his harem. It was a sort 
of Eastern drawing-room function, with slaves in brightly- 
coloured dresses everywhere about, and a number of Princesses, 
or daughters and relations of the Khedive, present, together 
with many other ladies of Egyptian rank and position. Mrs. 
Grey described them as mostly pretty — which was not, in her 
experience, the case as a rule — and as looking cheerful and 
happy. In the evening the Princess attended a State Dinner 
given by the four wives of the Khedive at the Palace of 
Gizerek. The presence of innumerable slaves, coffee and 
pipes, music and cherry jam served on a large gold tray with 
a gold service inlaid with diamonds and rubies, were the initial 
features of the entertainment. At dinner the guests sat on 
chairs instead of on the floor, as at a previous affair of the 
kind, but still had to pull the meat from the turkey with their 
fingers, while the odour of garlic and onions in many of the 
dishes was very unpleasant. There was some singing during 
the meal, with music and Oriental dancing after it. Meanwhile 
the bazars had been visited privately by the Princess ; the 
people having no idea who the inquiring and interested Euro- 
pean lady was. 

THE PRINCE ATTENDS THE KHEDIVE'S RECEPTION. 

On the same day the Prince of Wales attended in state 
at a formal reception held by the Khedive, and thus conferred 
a somewhat marked compliment upon one who was not actu- 
ally an independent Sovereign He was accompanied by the 
Marquess of Huntly and the Earl of Gosford, who had just 
arrived from India on their way home, and proceeded through 



io6 TRA VELS IN THE EAST 

the streets in all the pomp of scarlet and gold outriders, troops 
in brilliant uniforms and a general environment of state 
which compelled unusual respect from the impassive Oriental 
onlookers. Royal honours were given to the Prince on his 
arrival, and he was met by some 5,000 troops and the strains 
of the British national anthem, while the Court itself was 
brilliant in blue and gold uniforms and rich in the luxuriance 
of gold and gems upon every possible article of service 
or personal use. In the evening the Prince dined with his 
Vice-regal host on a yacht in the river, and the Minister 
of Finance gave a brilliant banquet, at which were present 
the great officers of state, such as Shereef Pasha, Zulfikar 
Pasha, Abdallah Pasha and others, together with British visi- 
tors or members of the Royal suite, such as Lord Carington, 
Lord Huntly, Lord Gosford, Prince Louis of Battenberg, Sir 
Samuel Baker and Colonel Teesdale, V. C. 

This event closed the visit to Cairo and, after formal 
farewells on the following morning, the train was taken for 
Suez, where the Royal visitors were received by the Governor 
and M. de Lesseps. In the morning they left for Ismaila 
amidst all possible honours, and accompanied by the great 
canal promoter. There a triumphal arch had been erected 
and a crowd of people and troops were found lining the route 
through the city. They were driven out to the Khedive's 
chalet on Lake Timsah, where dinner was served and the 
night spent, and thence back to Ismaila, and, in a steamer, 
down the Suez Canal to Port Said. The great enterprise 
was not then completed, and, in fact, the opening of the canal 
did not take place for many months, but the Royal tour- 
ists were fortunate in seeing the pioneer activities of creation 
in full operation and of being able to understand something 
of the immense initial difficulties which had been overcome 
by the genius and energy of De Lesseps. 

Alexandria was reached on March 27th, and visits were 



TRA VELS IN THE EAST 107 

paid to Ras-el-Teen, the old palace of Mehemet Ali, to Cleo- 
patra's Needle and Pompey's Pillar. Then the Ariadne was 
boarded once more and a farewell dinner given to Mourad 
Pasha, the representative of the Egyptian Government, who 
had done so much for the comfort of the Royal guests ; the 
health of the Khedive was drunk and the last word said to the 
ancient land of the Nile and the Pyramids. The impressions 
left by this visit to Egypt were pleasant to the Prince of Wales 
and useful to his country. Ismail, the Khedive, was at this 
time a most enterprising ruler but the predominant influence in 
the country was French and there can be no doubt that the 
stately reception given the Heir to the British Crown proved 
a substantial service to the present and future residents of his 
nationality in that part of the world. The Prince, himself, 
must have benefited greatly by the insight into Oriental 
methods of government which he obtained and by the curious 
efforts at an adaptation of western ideas which were going on 
all around him ; while the picture left upon his mind of an- 
cient traditions and the history of a mighty past could not 
but have been impressive and interesting. 

On boarding the Ariadne, off Alexandria, and starting for 
Constantinople the Royal party lost Sir Samuel Baker, Lord 
Gosford, Sir Henry Pelly and Lord Huntly, who were leaving 
for other points of destination. During the next few days the 
vessel passed through the "Isles of Greece" and by various 
famous or historic spots. Patmos and Chios were seen for a 
time in the distance and, on March 31st, the Dardanelles were 
reached and salutes fired from shore to shore — from Europe to 
Asia — as the Royal yacht steamed between the Turkish forts. 
Upon anchoring, the British Ambassador, the Hon. Henry 
Elliot, came on board, together with Raouf Pasha, who at- 
tended to offer the earliest compliments of his Imperial master 
the Sultan. At the next landing, off Chanak, the Prince was 
formally welcomed by Eyoub Pasha, Military Governor of the 



108 TRA VELS IN THE EAST 

Dardanelles, and his staff and guard of honour. Salutes from 
the Forts followed and the Prince returned to his vessel which 
steamed up to Gallipoli, where another stop was made and a 
visit paid to the French and British cemeteries of the Cri- 
mean War. Early on the morning of April ist the towers and 
minarets of Constantinople were sighted and various tugs and 
boats containing British residents and others surrounded the 
Royal vessel and joined in singing " God Save the Queen" as 
the Prince and Princess appeared on deck. Their stepping 
into a barge to row ashore was the signal for a general salute 
from the Turkish iron-clads and, amidst flying colours, fully- 
manned yards and swarming caiques and steam-boats the 
journey to the shore was made — with some private specula- 
tion as to what would happen to the Life Guardsmen of the 
Prince's suite if they should be upset in the water with all their 
cumbrous "toggery" on. 

When abreast of the Palace of Saleh Bazar the Royal 
barge was met by the state caique of the Sultan, followed by 
other gorgeously decorated and equipped vessels, containing 
the Grand Vizier, Aali Pasha, and other officials dressed in 
blue and gold and wearing numerous ribands, stars and crosses 
of knightly orders. Amidst cheers from crowded tugs and 
boats and ships the Royal visitors were transferred to the 
caique and thence to the landing place of the Palace where a 
guard of honour, a crowd of officers and a gorgeous staff sur- 
rounded the Sultan who, like the Prince of Wales, was in full 
uniform. His Majesty, after various gracious greetings, which 
were translated by the Grand Vizier, led his guests up the 
staircase of the Palace and then retired. Shortly afterwards 
the Prince and his suite were driven to the Dolmabakshi 
Palace where they were received by the Sultan with much 
state and, after a brief visit, returned to Saleh Bazar. Lunch- 
eon followed and the Prince and Princess called at the British 
Embassy. On their way back in the Sultan's carriages the 



TRA VELS IN THE EAST ioq 

streets were lined with impassive people who saluted in silent 
respect. At the Palace an admirable dinner was served on 
gold and silver plate. During the entire stay of the Royal 
visitors here they were supplied with every luxury and require- 
ment — guards of honour, carriages, saddle-horses, caiques, a 
band of eighty-four splendid musicians and an immense staff 
always on duty and clad in gorgeous uniforms of green and 
gold. 

Every morning there were presents from the Sultan of 
most exquisite flowers and the finest fruit. Mr. W. H. Rus- 
sell thus described the surroundings in one of his letters to the 
London Times : "The valetaille, in liveries of green and gold, 
with white cuffs and collars, throng the passages and corri- 
dors, and black-coated Chibouquejees are ready at a clap of 
the hands to bring in pipes with amber mouth-pieces of fabu- 
lous value, crested with hundreds of diamonds and rubies, and 
coffee in tiny cups which fit into stands blazing with similar 
jewels. The cuisine cannot be surpassed and the wines are of 
the most celebrated vintage. All the persons attached to the 
Palace speak French or English. There are Turkish baths 
inside ready at a moment's notice. Equerries, aides-de-camp, 
officers of the Body-Guard, radiant in gold lace and scarlet, in 
blue and in silver lace, flit about the saloons and corridors. 
Human nature can scarce sustain the load of obligations 
imposed on it by such attention. If the Prince is seen on the 
water guards are turned out along all the batteries and the 
strains of music are borne on every breeze that blows. Yards 
are manned and crews turned out on the slightest provoca- 
tion. The least wish is an order." 

On April 2nd the Sultan went in state to the Mosque in 
honour of his Royal guests, The streets were lined with five 
thousand troops and the Prince and Princess, with their suite, 
were driven to the Palace of Beshik Jool, from a beautiful 
room in which they could see the Imperial procession pass by* 



1 10 TRA VELS IN THE EAST 

The sloping ground on the opposite side of the road was filled 
by groups of women clad in varied colours and looking from 
a distance like animated flowers. The Sultan came, pre- 
sently, preceded by brilliantly garbed Circassian troops, 
announced by the blast of a trumpet and the acclaim of the 
Turkish populace and riding a magnificent horse, which an 
English spectator described as a " marvel of beauty." He 
wore a splendid military uniform and his jewelled orders and 
sabre-hilt shone brightly in the rays of the sun, while immedi- 
ately before and behind him were the officers of state. After 
the pageant had passed, little Prince Izzedin — the eldest son 
of the Sultan and a delicate, intelligent-looking child — came 
over to visit the Prince and Princess. The troops then filed 
past the Palace windows. Later in the day a deputation of 
British residents was received by the Prince and in the even- 
ing a special performance at the Theatre was attended and 
witnessed from the Sultan's box. 

Early in the morning of April 3rd, the various foreign 
Ambassadors and Ministers called on the Prince of Wales and 
were presented by Mr. Elliot. Amongst them was General 
Ignatieff, of Russia. A visit to Seraglio Point followed, and 
from its heights was seen that most exquisite view which 
embraces the Sweet Waters, the Bosphorus, the Sea of Mar- 
mora and its islands, the shores of Scutari, the minarets of the 
city and a general mingling of sea and shore, of light and 
shade, of softness and Eastern charm which is hardly equalled 
in the world. The great mosque of St. Sophia was then 
visited. In the evening a state dinner was given by the 
Sultan at Dolmabakshi Palace — the first ever given by His 
Ottoman Majesty to Christian guests. The Prince and 
Princess were received in the grand drawing-room by the 
Sultan and all his Ministers. The Princess was taken in by 
His Majesty and Madame Ignatieff by the Prince. The 
dinner-room was already renowned for its exquisite candelabra 



TRA VELS IN THE EAST 1 1 1 

and lustres in rock-crystal; and its other decorations, combined 
with plate and flowers of the most beautiful kind, made up a 
scene well worth rememberingr Aside from this, however, it 
was not very interesting, as none of the Sultan's Ministers — 
except the Grand Vizier — had ever sat in his presence before 
and were apparently too much astonished and afraid to speak a 
word to each other or to any of the twenty-four guests who 
made up the banquet. After dinner the Princess and Mrs. 
Grey visited the Harem, or rather the Sultan's wife and mother. 
Mrs. Grey, in her Diary, declares the dullness and stiffness of 
the occasion to have been indescribable. There were innumer- 
able slaves, but they were all "hideous," though loaded down 
with jewels, while other incidents and surroundings were not 
very unlike a similar reception at a European Court. The 
whole affair broke up at 10.30. 

A VARIETY OF INCIDENTS 

On the following day the Royal party attended service in 
the church of the British Embassy, driving through silent and 
crowded streets. In the afternoon they inspected the Ceme- 
tary at Scutari. On the following day the Prince and Princess, 
attended by Mrs. Grey, and all garbed in the humblest Eng- 
lish clothes they could find, visited the Bazaar. " Mr. and 
Mrs. Williams " seemed to enjoy themselves greatly, the former 
smoking a long pipe ; the latter buying quantities of curios 
and, as the merchants soon found out, driving an occasional 
bargain with earnestness. They took in all the entertain- 
ments, sipped sherbets and the various unnamable drinks 
which are sold in such places, and revelled in a few hours of 
freedom. Later in the day the Prince paid some formal visits 
and in the evening they again attended the theatre. Mean- 
while Sir Andrew Buchanan, British Ambassador at St Peters- 
burg, had arrived with his wife, on their way home to England, 
and were welcomed at the Palace. The following day a visit 



ii2 TRA VELS IN THE EAST 

was paid to Belyar Beg, some distance up the Bosphorus, which 
has been described as "the most beautiful place in the most 
beautiful situation in the world." Guards of honour were seen 
in all directions as the Royal party passed in caiques up the 
river. The luxury and elegance of the furniture at the Palace 
and the beauty of both buildings and surroundings evoked 
expressions of admiration from the Prince and Princess and, 
perhaps, they even regretted their refusal to stay here in pre- 
ference for the other and more accessible residence. Tcham- 
lidja, not faraway, the summer residence of Mustapha Fazil 
Pasha, brother of the Viceroy of Egypt, was then visited and 
a "luncheon" served which proved to be almost wanton in its 
luxury — the choicest fruits that Paris could produce and the 
finest wines of the east or the west being served in profusion. 
Afterwards, the Princess and Mrs. Grey visited the Harem, 
while the men smoked exquisite cigars and drank the finest 
obtainable coffee. 

The following day included a trip across the Bosphorus 
in the Sultan's yacht and a state ball at the British Embassy 
in the evening, which was, for a short time, attended by the 
Padishah himself. The Royal party did not retire from the 
gathering until daylight. During the next three days one 
function continued to follow another. A visit to the British 
Memorial Church ; attendance with the Sultan at a great 
special performance in the Theatre through densely-crowded 
streets ; a visit to a cricket match in the suburbs ; attendance 
at a state banquet given by the British Ambassador ; inspec- 
tion by the Prince of a Turkish ironclad — Hobart Pasha's 
flagship ; a dinner at the country home of the Grand Vizier. 
The day of departure fixed upon was April ioth, and, after a 
stately breakfast with the Sultan at Dolmabakshi, and fare- 
wells exchanged amidst all possible pomp and Oriental 
pageantry, the Ariadne was boarded and slowly steamed away 
from the Moslem capital to the sound of cheers and thundering 



TRA VELS IN THE EAST 113 

guns from fleet and fort. They were soon in the gloomy 
waters of the Black Sea on the way to the Czar's dominions. 

Arrangements had been under discussion for some time in 
connection with this visit to the Crimea and Sir Andrew 
Buchanan's opportune arrival had, no doubt, a good deal to do 
with the matter. On April 12th Sebastopol was sighted, 
crowned with its ruined bastions and replete to the Royal 
tourists with memories of the Redan, the Malakoff, and the 
Mamelon. Neither flags nor men were visible, however, upon 
the ramparts as the yacht came to its moorings although else- 
where Russian soldiers could be occasionally seen. Presently, 
General de Kotzebue, Governor of New Russia and Bes- 
sarabia, came on board with his suite — a decorated and ener- 
getic survivor of the great siege at which he had been Chief of 
Staff to Prince Gortschakoff. After the four days programme 
for the Crimea had been settled the Prince and Princess landed 
and went first to inspect the Memorial Chapel and then to 
visit the great cemetery. A drive to some of the scenes of 
battle during the Crimean conflict followed, with an escort of 
Tartars and with carriage horses which at times seemed to fly 
over the ground. General de Kotzebue knew every foot of the 
soil and was, of course, a splendid host on such an occasion. 
On this first day the field of the desperate Alma fight was gone 
over carefully and on the succeeding morning the ruined ram- 
parts and redoubts of the once great Fortress of Sebastopol — 
not as yet restored — were visited and studied. The Cemetery 
of Cathcart's Hill was visited and here there were few in the 
party who did not find the names of friends or relatives in this 
city of silent streets while the Princess found very many 
around which associations of some kind were twined. In a 
small farmhouse, close to the windmill which was almost a cen- 
tre of battle on the day of Inkerman, the Royal party took lunch. 

Afterwards the Prince and some of the gentlemen rode 
over the ridge around which the famous fight occurred and 



H4 TRAVELS IN THE EAST 

General de Kotzebue explained the technical character of the 
struggle. The Malakoff was next seen as well as the colossal 
statue of Lazareff — the father of the Black Sea fleet and of 
that conception of Russian power which was shattered for 
a time by the success of the Allies. On the 14th the French 
Cemetery was visited and thence they went across country to 
the famous British Headquarters — the home for so long of' 
Lord Raglan, General Simpson and Sir W. Codrington. The 
house was in perfect order and the Prince was shown with 
care one of the rooms on the wall of which was a tablet with 
the simple words : " Lord Raglan died." Balaclava was next 
visited and the scene of the famous charge carefully studied 
by the Prince. A drive followed through a country of varied 
and striking beauty to the Imperial Palace of Livadia where 
the Czar's Master of Ceremonies, Count Jules Stenbock, 
was waiting to receive the Royal visitors. A ceremonious en- 
tertainment was given here in the highest style of refinement 
and with the somewhat unexpected accompaniments of cham- 
berlains in green and gold and a mass of servants from St. 
Petersburg, together with every sort of luxury. Here the Czar 
Nicholas had stayed in 1855 when he went to reconnoitre the 
position of the Allies. A visit followed to Alupka, the palace 
of Prince Woronzow and thence, after an exchange of tele 
grams with the Czar, they went on board the Ariadne once more. 
April the 16th saw the Royal party once more in the Bos- 
phorus with blue lights burning along the shores and bands 
playing a courteous welcome. On the following day the 
Prince, attended by Colonel Teesdale and Captain Ellis, paid 
a last formal visit to the Sultan and this was promptly returned 
by His Majesty amidst much ceremony. Meanwhile, the 
Princess had taken a last fond "incognito" look at the Bazaars 
attended by Mrs. Grey and Mr. Moore of the Embassy. The 
Ambassador came to the yacht to luncheon and soon after- 
wards Sir Andrew and Lady Buchanan bade farewell. Then, 



TRA VELS IN THE EAST 115 

in the evening, came the second departure from Constanti- 
nople, the Ariadne passing through the lately increased Turk- 
ish fleet, under Hobart Pasha, amidst a brilliant display of 
rockets, coloured lanterns and blue lights. 

A VISIT TO HISTORIC ATHENS 

The Port of Athens was reached on April the 20th and 
here Sir A. Buchanan once more rejoined the party, followed 
very soon by various Russian, French and Italian officers and 
diplomatists. Next came the King of Greece — George I., 
brother of the Princess of Wales — accompanied by a suite and 
with sounds of distant cheering and the roar of guns echoing 
around the vessel. After luncheon Athens was visited and 
found to be gaily decorated and thence the Royal party passed 
by train to the King's Palace in the country, a beautiful place 
surrounded by beautiful scenery. In the distance were to be 
seen the green fields and olive forests of the Attic plain, the 
Pirseus and the Bay of Salamis, the groves of Academus, the 
ancient Acropolis and Ilissus, and the modern City of Athens. 
On the following day the Acropolis was visited and the glor- 
ies of that scene of historic greatness revived in the memories 
of the Royal travellers. A state banquet followed in the 
evening and on the next day a number of memorable sights 
and scenes were visited while the evening was the occasion for 
a coloured and very striking illumination of the mighty ruins 
of the Acropolis. Athens was left behind on the 23rd of April 
and the Royal party, including the King and Queen of Greece, 
proceeded to Corfu, which was reached on the following day 
and a more kindly greeting accorded to the visitors. The 
stay here was a very quiet one enlivened, so far as the Prince 
of Wales was concerned, by a hunting party on the somewhat 
wild coast of Albania. May 1st saw a formal leave-taking 
from the King and Queen of the Hellenes and a departure 
from this pleasant old-world Island. 



1 1 6 TRA VELS IN THE EAST 

On the following day Brindisi was reached, and Turin on 
the 3rd. Accompanied by Sir Augustus Paget, the Minister 
at Rome, the Royal party crossed the mountains by the Mont 
Cenis Railway and reached Paris two days afterwards. Here, 
until May the 11th, they remained in a succession of visits, 
dinners, reviews and entertainments provided by the Emperor 
and Empress, and on the following day arrived at Marlbor- 
ough House after a six months' absence from England. It had 
been a round of arduous duty mixed with every form of honour 
and compliment, and including much of genuine pleasure and 
useful experience, together with the acquisition of practical 
and valuable knowledge. To the Heir Apparent it was one 
more step in the training and education necessary for any 
Prince who is destined to reign over the destinies of an in- 
finitely varied and scattered people. 













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CHAPTER VII. 

Serious Illness of the Prince 

FOLLOWING his return from foreign travel and the 
fulfilment of a brief round of public functions and 
duties came the now historic and really eventful illness 
of the Prince of Wales. It was a critical period in his career. 
Boyhood, youth and the first flush of manhood were gone ; his 
marriage had taken place and his family been born into 
a position of present and future importance ; his own train- 
ing in public duties and experience in foreign travel and 
observation had been completed up to a very high point of 
efficiency. The one element which seemed to be a little 
lacking was that of a full appreciation of his own responsibility 
to the nation and the Empire. The brilliant light which blazed 
around the Throne could find no fault in the actual perform- 
ance of any duty ; but the critical eye and caustic pen had 
been prone for some years to allege an overfondness for plea- 
sure and amusement and the pursuits of social life. 

Whether true or false in its not very serious origin this 
impression had been studiously cultivated in certain quarters 
at home which had an interest in the theoretical flash-lights of 
republicanism ; and extensively propagated abroad by cabled 
falsehoods and magnified incidents until actual harm had been 
done to the reputation and character of the young Prince 
amongst those who did not know him and could never act- 
ually expect to know him except through the journalistic food 
upon which they were fed. 

On the other hand, the English people had hardly learned 
to appreciate the important place filled by the Prince of Wales 
in the community, in the daily life of the nation, in the hopes 



n8 SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 

of his future subjects, and deep down in the hearts of the 
masses. Something was apparently needed to develop those 
two lines of feeling — one personal and the other national — 
and this came in the illness which struck down the Prince in 
the closing months of 1871. During the Autumn he had paid 
a visit to Lord Londesborough at Scarborough, and, although 
not feeling well, nothing was supposed to be seriously wrong. 
From there the Prince had gone to stay with Lord Carington 
at Gayhurst and thence returned to Sandringham where he 
became decidedly ill. The Times of November 22nd was com- 
pelled to state that His Royal Highness was suffering from "a 
chill resulting in a febrile attack " which had confined him 
to his room. On the following day a bulletin signed by Doc- 
tors Jenner, Clayton, Gull and Lowe stated that the Prince 
was suffering from typhoid. 

ORIGIN OF THE ILLNESS. 

Amid the anxiety caused by this announcement every one 
wondered where the disease had been contracted, and ere long 
it was known that all the guests of Lord Londesborough at 
the time of the Royal visit had become more or less indisposed ; 
that the hostess herself was seriously ill ; that the Earl of Ches- 
terfield, one of the recent guests, was down with typhoid and, 
finally that Blegg, the Prince's groom, had caught the same 
disease. Ultimately both peer and peasant died, and the ser- 
iousness of their illness as it developed in the public eye added 
to the gradually growing excitement over the condition of the 
Heir-Apparent. 

The growth of popular feeling in the matter was evidently 
deep and serious. Bulletins stating that the symptoms of the 
fever were severe but regular continued for a time amid ever- 
increasing manifestations of interest and, as the weeks passed 
slowly by and the Queen had gone to the bedside of her son 
and something of the devotion of his wife to the sick Prince 



SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 119 

became known, this feeling grew in volume. Meanwhile the 
Princess Alice had also come to lend her brother the sympa- 
thetic touch and knowledge of nursing for which she was 
so well known. For a brief moment on December 1st, the 
patient roused from his delirium sufficiently to remark that it 
was the birthday of the Princess, and for a week thereafter the 
news of improvement in his condition was good. Then came 
a crisis when the fever had spent itself while the patient had 
also become worn out. It was impossible to say whether he 
could live another day. The Royal family were summoned to 
Sandringham on December 9th, and on the following day 
(Sunday) prayers were offered up in all the churches of the 
land and in many other countries, by request of the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. In the morning, the Vicar at Sandring- 
ham Church received a note from the Princess of Wales : " My 
husband being, thank God, somewhat better, I am coming to 
church. I must leave, I fear, before the service is concluded^ 
that I may watch by his bedside. Can you say a few words in 
prayer in the early part of the service, that I may join with 
you in prayer for my husband before I return to him ? " 

THE CRISIS AND THE RECOVERY. 

On December 11th the Times stated that "the Prince 
still lives, and we may, therefore, still hope." During the fol- 
lowing days crowds in every town surrounded the bulletins 
and waited in the streets for the latest newspaper reports ; and 
the Government found it necessary to forward medical state- 
ments to every telegraph office in the United Kingdom as they 
were issued. On the 14th of the month a favourable change 
seemed apparent, and on the 16th the Prince had a quiet and 
refreshing sleep. On the following day the Royal family went 
to church, where, by special request, the Royal patient and 
his dying groom — Blegg — were prayed for together. The 
latter died within a few hours, but not before the Princess had 



i2o SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 

found time to visit him and comfort his relations. Slowly, but 
steadily, from that time on the Prince began to make head- 
way towards recovery, though it was not until Christmas Day 
that the danger was thought to be past and his Royal mother 
could express her feeling to the nation in a letter which was 
made public on December 26th : " The Queen is very anxious* 
to express her deep sense of the touching sympathy of the 
whole nation on the occasion of the alarming illness of her 
dear son, the Prince of Wales. The universal feeling shown 
by her people during these painful, terrible days, and the 
sympathy evinced by them with herself and her beloved 
daughter, the Princess of Wales, as well as the general joy at 
the improvement of the Prince of Wales's state, have made a 
deep and lasting impression on her heart which can never be 
effaced." 

CELEBRATION OF HIS RECOVERY. 

The recovery of the Prince took the usual course of the 
disease and was protracted in character; but on January 14th 
the last bulletin was issued. The Princess of Wales and the 
Princess Alice had been his nurses throughout this trying 
time, and they had never seemed to weary in their devoted 
care. Nine days after the issue of the last bulletin Dr. 
William Jenner was gazetted a K. C. B. and Dr. William 
W. Gull a baronet. There were rumors at this time that the 
patient had been at one stage actually in extremis, but had 
been saved by one of those sudden inspirations which some- 
times constitute so important a part of medical practice, and 
which consisted in a vigorous and continuous application of 
old champagne brandy over the body until returning anima- 
tion had rewarded the doctor's efforts. The 14th of Decem- 
ber, the anniversary of the Prince Consort's death and the 
day upon which the actual turning point in the disease took. 



SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 121 

place, was commemorated by a brass lectern in the Parish 
Church of Sandringham, which bears the following inscription : 

To the Glory of God. 

A Thank-Offering for His Mercies. 

14th December, 1871. 

Alexandra. 

"When I was in trouble I called upon the Lord, and He heard me." 

The good news from Sandringham was received through- 
out the country with expressions of the most unbounded 
popular satisfaction ; and the announcement that an opportu- 
nity would be afforded of returning public thanks to the 
Almighty for his mercy was universally approved. The day 
for the National Thanksgiving was finally settled for Febru- 
ary 27th, and St. Paul's Cathedral as the place ; but before 
that time came Dr. Stanley — who had now become Dean of 
Westminster — suggested a private visit to the Abbey and a 
personal expression of his feelings by the Prince, This was 
done in absolute privacy, with only the Princess and a few 
members of the Royal family present. A sermon was 
preached by the Dean in which, as he told an intimate friend, 
he was able for once to say what he wished to say. 

THE NATION UNITED IN A COMMON SYMPATHY. 

Many of the papers of the country commented upon the 
event with much the same freedom as the Dean was able 
to use on this occasion, and it seemed to be felt that the 
unbounded solicitude and affection so evidently and pro- 
foundly shown for the Prince had given a certain right of 
counsel to the nation. It was generally admitted that the 
illness had disclosed to the people as a whole something like 
an adequate knowledge of their own convictions in connection 
with the monarchy and concerning its maintenance as a per- 
manent and powerful institution of the realm. Whatever 



i2 2 SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 

might be the abstract ideas held by individuals in times when 
Mr. Bradlaugh and Sir Charles Dilke were preaching republi- 
canism and Mr. Chamberlain was suspected of harbouring the 
same opinions, it had become apparent that the subjects of the 
Queen in Great Britain were practically a unit in their prefer- 
ence for a constitutional monarchy and in their personal devo- 
tion to the Crown and the Royal family. In addition to the 
event having awakened the nation to the strength of its own 
sentiment in this regard, it was also believed that an important 
influence would be found to have been exerted upon the 
Prince of Wales — a steadying sense of responsibility resulting 
from holding such a place as he did in the hearts of his coun- 
trymen. 

THE PUBLIC THANKSGIVING OF THE NATION. 

The Illustrated London News well embodied this thought 
in the following comment : " Doubtless what has occurred 
during the last few weeks has also a meaning for the Heir 
Apparent to the Throne. No man of the slightest sensibility 
can witness the emotional effusion of a great nation towards 
himself without being deeply impressed with the responsibil- 
ities of his position. The Prince comes back to the British 
people from the brink of the tomb, and they who most pathet- 
ically lamented his danger hail his return to health with devout 
thanksgivings and acclamations of joy. Can there be a more 
powerful incentive to that course of future action which will 
commend him to their approbation and their love ? That he 
will recognize and respond to it, we cannot allow ourselves to 
doubt." One of the interesting incidents of the illness was 
the fact that when the announcement was made that His 
Royal Highness might only survive a few hours his obituary 
was, of course, prepared and put in type in all the leading 
newspaper offices in the land to an extent varying from the 
pages of a metropolitan daily down to the half dozen columns 
of the Provincial press. Proofs of the obituaries were, it is 



SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE "3 

understood, afterwards collected and sent to the Prince, who 
had them pasted into an immense scrap-book at Marlborough 
House. 

The Thanksgiving Day celebration commenced on Feb- 
ruary 27th at 12 o'clock, when Her Majesty the Queen, 
accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Wales and the 
Princess Beatrice and Prince Albert Victor of Wales, drove 
through the gates of Buckingham Palace. There were nine 
Royal carriages in the procession, containing a number of 
ladies and gentlemen of the Court, and the Duke of Edin- 
burgh, Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold and Prince George of 
Wales. With the latter was the Marquess of Aylesbury, 
Master of the Horse; Mr. Brand, Speaker of the House of 
Commons ; Lord Hatherley, the Lord Chancellor. H. R. H. 
the Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in-Chief, headed the 
procession as it passed slowly through Pall Mall, Charing 
Cross, the Strand, Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill to St. Paul's 
Cathedral. The streets were lined with dense masses of 
people, while every shop-window, doorstep, portico and avail- 
able roof were black with cheering throngs. Decorations 
there were of every sort and range — squalid or simple or 
splendid — but all representing pleasure and loyalty. Along 
Fleet Street and the Strand they took the form of an actual 
canopy of banners, standards, streamers and strings of flowers. 
Venetian masts, flying pennons, countless trophies and minia- 
ture shields, with varied mottoes and many kinds of loyal 
wishes, were seen all along the route. A band of school 
children numbering 30,000 sang the National Anthem in 
Green Park, while soldiers lined the roadway from the Palace 
to the Cathedral. Hearty and enthusiastic cheers greeted the 
Royal party, and the Queen and Princess were described as 
looking bright and happy, and the Prince as being pale, but 
not thin. The Queen wore a black velvet dress trimmed with 
white ermine, the Princess of Wales was in blue silk covered 



i2 4 SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 

with black lace, and the Prince was in the uniform of a British 
General and wearing the orders of the Garter and the Bath 

At Temple Bar the Queen was formally received by the 
Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of London, and the city sword 
handed to Her Majesty and returned in the usual way. At one 
o'clock the Royal party arrived at the Cathedral and passed, 
up a covered way of crimson cloth to the steps, where they 
were received by the Bishop of London, the Dean and 
Chapter of St. Paul's and the officers of Her Majesty's 
Household. The vast interior of the building had been 
arranged to accommodate 13,000 persons, and was crowded to 
the doors. Space under the dome was reserved for the 
Queen, the Royal family, the House of Lords, the House of 
Commons, the Corps Diplomatique and the distinguished 
foreigners, the Judges and the dignitaries of the law, the 
Lords Lieutenant and Sheriffs of Counties, the representatives 
of universities and other learned bodies. The choir was 
reserved for the Clergy, and the place assigned to Her Majesty 
and their Royal Highnesses was slightly raised, made into a 
kind of pew and covered with crimson cloth. 

The Royal procession as it moved up the aisle included, 
besides the members of the Royal family, such well known 
officials and members of the Court as Major-General Lord 
Alfred Paget, Lieutenant-General Sir John Cowell, Colonel 
H .F. Ponsonby, Major-General Sir T. M. Biddulph, General 
Sir William Knollys, Rear-Admiral Lord Frederick Kerr, 
the (late) Lord Methuen, General Lord Strathnairn, the 
Marquess of Aylesbury, the Viscount Sydney, the Countess of 
Gainsborough, the Lady Churchill, Lady Caroline Barrington, 
the Hon. Mrs. Grey, the Countess of Morton and Lord 
Harris. Most of the great names and great personages of 
England were present at this function. There were 200 
Peers and Peeresses ; the Archbishops .of Canterbury and 
York and fourteen Bishops ; nearly every member of the 



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EDWARD VII, AND HIS EUROPEAN CONTEMPORARIES 



SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 125 

House of Commons. Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone were there as 
were Mr. Disraeli and Viscountess Beaconsfield. Lord North- 
brook, Mr. W. E. Forster, Mr. Cardwell, Mr. Chichester For- 
tescue, Mr. Goschen, and Lord Granville were visible. Throngs 
of ladies, brilliant in blue and mauve and crimson satin and 
gems were present, and, as the sun suddenly shone through 
what had been sullen clouds, the spectacle within those parts 
of the Cathedral touched by the stream of light was beautiful 
indeed. It shone upon the bright blue of many dresses — the 
Royal colour of the day — mixed up in a confusion of effective 
shadings with the dark blue and burnished gold of the uniforms, 
the scarlet and white plumes of the officers, the gorgeous robes 
of the Peers, the white lawn of the Bishops. 

After walking up the aisle on the arm of the Prince of 
Wales, with the Princess on the other side, Her Majesty took 
her place in the special pew with the chief members of the Royal 
family on either side. After a brief special service of thanks- 
giving the Archbishop of Canterbury preached the sermon for 
the occasion in words of tact and eloquence from which one 
quotation may be made : "Just as in one of our own homes 
when death threatens, the whole history of the loved object we 
fear to lose comes back in the hours of waiting, so England 
was stirred by a hundred touching memories when danger 
threatened the Royal house. And God doubtless thus touched 
our hearts to deepen our loyalty and make us better prize the 
thousand good things secured in a well-ordered State by love 
to the head of the State." At the conclusion of the sermon a 
Thanksgiving Hymn was sung and the benediction given. 
The following was the concluding verse : 

" Bless, Father, him thou gavest 
Back to the loyal land, 
O Saviour, him Thou savest, 
Still cover with Thine Hand : 



126 SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 

O Spirit, the Defender, 
Be his to guard and guide, 
Now in life's midday splendou - 
On to the eventide." 

* The Royal party then proceeded in due state to their 

carriages and the procession returned through the streets of 
the city to Buckingham Palace over the Holborn Viaduct, 
along Holborn and Oxford street to the Marble Arch, via 
Hyde Park to Piccadilly, and thence down Constitution Hill. 
Enthusiastic cheering was heard all along the route and deco- 
rations were seen everywhere in the greatest abundance. In 
the evening London was brilliant with light. The dome of St. 
Paul's Cathedral, the Mansion House, and the two large 
triumphal arches were particularly bright and beautiful in their 
varied colours and illuminations. The Lord Mayor and Lady 
Mayoress entertained the Lord Mayor of Dublin and the 
Provincial Mayors to a banquet at the Mansion House and, 
all over the United Kingdom, celebrations of a popular or 
religious character, holiday gatherings, crowded meetings and 
illuminations, marked the day and the pleasure of the people. 
Addresses poured in by hundreds and rejoicings were not con- 
fined to the Island portion of the Empire. An incident of this 
celebration was the collection of a Thanksgiving Fund for the 
completion of St. Paul's Cathedral. To it the Queen gave 
;£iooo and the Prince of Wales ^500. Another feature of the 
event was the splendid behaviour of the millions of people who 
lined the seven-mile route of the procession and paid loyal 

f tribute to their Queen and to the son who was heir to all the 
traditions of his race and the greatness of the Royal name. 
On February 29th Her Majesty wrote to Mr. Gladstone a mes- 
sage intended for the nation : 

" The Queen is anxious, as on a previous occasion, to express pub- 
licly her own personal very deep sense of the reception she and her dear 
children met with on Tuesday, February the 27th, from millions of her 



SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 127 

subjects on her way to and from St. Paul's. Words are too weak for the 
Queen to say how very deeply touched and gratified she has been by the 
immense enthusiasm and affection exhibited towards her dear son and her- 
self, from the highest down to the lowest, on the long progress through the 
Capital, and she would earnestly wish to convey her warmest and most 
heartfelt thanks to the whole nation for this great demonstration of loyalty. 
The Queen, as well as her son and dear daughter-in-law, felt that the 
whole nation joined with them in thanking God for sparing the beloved 
Prince of Wales's life." 

Perhaps the most beautiful and effective presentations of 
popular feeling and hopes in connection with this now historic 
sickness of the Heir Apparent were the sermons preached by 
Dean Stanley. No one has ever been closer in friendship and 
in personal knowledge to the Prince of Wales than had this 
eloquent and saintly ecclesiastic. No one has been more 
admired and respected in the Church of England in modern 
days than he ; nor has any of its clergy possessed a wider view 
or more generous heart. Speaking in Westminster Abbey on 
December 10th, 1871, when the nation was awaiting in deep 
anxiety the issue of a struggle which seemed to be almost 
fatally and surely decided, he embodied the popular feeling in 
beautiful and appropriate words : " On a day like this when 
there is one topic in every household, one question on every 
lip, it is impossible to stand in this place and not endeavour to 
give some expression to that of which every heart is full. We 
all press, as it were, round one darkened chamber, we all feel 
that with the mourning family, mother, wife, brothers, sisters, 
who are there assembled, we are indeed one. The thrill of 
their fears or hopes passes through and through the differences 
of rank and station ; we feel that, while they represent the 
whole people they also represent and are that which each 
family and each member of each family, is separately. In the 
fierce battle between life and death, for the issues, of which we 
are all looking with such eager expectation, we see the likeness 
of what will befall every individual soul amongst us ; and the 



128 SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 

reflection which this struggle, with all its manifold uncertainties 
suggests, concerns us all alike." 

The sermon which followed was a skillful presentation of 
thoughts suggested by the text, " To live is Christ and to die 
is gain." It concluded with an earnest hope that the Royal 
life which might so greatly influence the national destinies 
might still be preserved — "a life which, if duly appreciated 
and fitly used, contains within it special opportunities for good 
such as no other existence in this great community possesses ; a 
life which may, if worthily employed, stimulate all that is noble 
and beneficent and discourage all that is low and base and 
frivolous." In these and other words he concluded a sermon 
which could not but have had its influence in after days upon 
the life and character of the Prince who so greatly respected 
and regarded the preacher. A week later the cloud had lifted 
from Sandringham and the life which had been so much 
prayed for in so many lands was slowly passing into the region 
of safety and strength. It gave the opportunity to Dean 
Stanley to speak again at the historic Abbey in a strain of 
instruction and to draw a national moral from the events of 
the past few months. He referred to the spontaneous out- 
burst of every class and every party which had, to his mind, 
proved the permanent supremacy of the British Crown in a 
Christian State. " There are nations and there have been 
times in which the devotion to the reigning family has been a 
thing separate and apart from the love of country. There 
have been times and places when the love of country has 
existed with no loyal feeling to the reigning family. Let us 
thank God that in England it is not so. Loyalty with us is 
the personal, romantic side of patriotism. Patriotism with us 
is the Christian, philosophic side of loyalty. Long may the 
two flourish together, each supporting and sustaining the 
other." 

On the Sunday following the Thanksgiving Service at St. 



SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 129 

Paul's — March 3rd — the Dean preached for the last time upon 
this subject in Westminster Abbey. After stirring references 
to the wonderful scene of national enthusiasm lately witnessed 
and to the gathering in St. Paul's Cathedral of representatives 
of every creed and religious division in Great Britain (except 
those of one exclusive body) to offer thanksgivings in "the 
venerable forms of the National Church " he expressed his 
belief that the demonstration as a whole was "the response in 
every English heart to the sense of union — too subtle for 
analysis yet true and simple as the primitive instincts of our 
race — which binds the people of England to their Monarchy 
and the Monarchy to the people." He dealt with the 
functions and character of that institution in most striking 
words. " No other existing throne in Europe reaches back to 
the same antiquity, none other combines with such an undi- 
vided charm the associations of the past with the interests of 
the present. It is the one name and place which, being 
beyond the reach of personal ambition, beyond the need of 
private gain, has the inestimable chance of guiding, moulding, 
elevating the tastes, the customs, the morals of the whole 
community. It is the one name and place which, being raised 
high above all party struggles, all local jealousies, over all 
classes, ecclesiastical as well as civil, is the supreme controlling 
spring which binds together in their widest meaning all the 
forces of the State and all the forces of the Church. It is the 
one institution which by very nature of its existence unites the 
abstract idea of country and of duty with the personal endear- 
ments of family life, of domestic love, of individual character." 
It was the greatness of this national possession — one 
which had steadied national progress and promoted peace in 
the midst of tumults and freedom in the midst of disorder — 
which had, Dean Stanley thought, helped to make the people 
pray that its destined heir should be worthy of his noble 
inheritance. And then the speaker pointedly and clearly 

9 



i 3 o SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE PRINCE 

pictured the increased and increasing responsibilities of the 
Prince of Wales upon whom, henceforth, "as by a new conse- 
cration and confirmation, devolves the glorious task of devot- 
ing to his country's service that life which is in a special sense 
no longer his but ours, for which his country's prayers, his 
country's thanksgivings, have been so earnestly offered.'' The. 
sermon concluded with a description of these great responsi- 
bilities ; an appeal to the Prince to begin life afresh and to 
take the lead in all that was true and holy, just and good ; a 
warning that " of him to whom much has been given, much 
shall be required;" a picture of a Christian England fighting 
evil in every form and in every place and growing greater in 
all the elements of higher national and individual life. 



i CHAPTER VIII. 

The Prince of Wales in India 

TO make a Royal tour of the vast British possessions in 
Hindostan was an inspiring idea. To constitute the 
Crown a tangible evidence of Imperial power and a 
living object and centre of Eastern loyalty and respect was a 
policy worthy of Mr. Disraeli and of the statecraft in which he 
had once declared imagination to be an essential ingredient. 
To precede this action by the purchase of the Suez Canal 
shares in order to safe-guard the pathway to the Indian Empire 
and to succeed it with such an impressive appeal to Oriental 
individualism and personal loyalty as the proclamation of 
Queen Victoria as Empress of India were strokes of statesman- 
ship such as no other Englishman of that time was capable of 
initiating. 

INCEPTION OF THE PROJECT. 

In Bombay, when the project was finally in full fruition, 
the Prince of Wales told a distinguished audience that "it had 
long been the dream of his life to visit India," and there seems 
no room to doubt that it was a part of the original plan 
mapped out by the keen perceptions of the Prince Consort for 
the education of his eldest son. It was unquestionably sug- 
gested to the former by Lord Canning, when Governor-General 
of India in the wild days of the Mutiny, but the idea necessarily 
slumbered until the young Prince was old enough to under- 
take the heavy duties involved. 

By that time his father had passed away ; the old-time 
rule of the East India Company was gone; a new and greater 
India had expanded in territory and population ; while the 



1 32 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

loyalty of its native Princes had become a constant marvel to 
other peoples. Yet there were causes of discontent and 
grounds for trouble. The myriad masses of Hindostan did 
not yet fully understand who was ruling over them, nor had 
they ever fully comprehended how the rule of the Company 
passed away. The word " Queen " had to them an Eastern 
significance which did not exactly compel respect, and that 
personal side of Government which means so much to the 
Oriental mind had never been brought home to them. The 
assassination of Lord Mayo proved the possibilities of greater 
trouble, and there was always the danger of Russian aggres- 
sion and the existence of border warfare. In the winter of 
1874, therefore, the question of a Royal tour was seriously 
considered, and some correspondence passed between the 
authorities concerned. To send the Heir to the Throne on 
such a visit was a unique project, and there were various diffi- 
culties to overcome. India was accustomed to visitors of the 
type of Alexander the Great, of Timour, Baber, Mahmoud of 
Ghuznee and Nadir Shah ; but a peaceful progress of the 
foreign Heir to its Throne was another matter. Brief and 
hasty visits to some of its Princes had been made in recent 
times by Prince Adalbert of Prussia, the King of the Belgians 
and the Duke of Edinburgh, but there had never been a state 
tour of the country with all its accompaniments of splendour 
and costliness, the danger from fanatics and the trying changes 
of climatic conditions. 

ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE TOUR. 

It was not an easy matter to arrange, and the probabili- 
ties are, that if the Prince of Wales had not himself insisted 
that it was his duty to go, the project might ultimately have 
been abandoned. He had by this time come to fill so 
important a place in the public eye and in the external func- 
tions of Sovereignty that his absence for six months, or more 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 133 

was a serious consideration. The preliminary obstacles, how^ 
ever, were overcome, and on the 16th of March, 1875, the 
Marquess of Salisbury, Secretary of State for India, announced 
that the visit would take place, and a little later the Times 
stated that Sir Bartle Frere would accompany His Royal 
Highness. The former was widely known in India through 
administrative duties admirably performed in Bombay and 
the North-West Provinces. The Duke of Sutherland, a 
much respected nobleman, was selected as one of the suite, 
together with Lord Suffield, head of the Prince's Household ; 
Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Ellis, Equerry to the Prince, and 
who had served in India; Major-General (Sir) D. M. Probyn, 
V.C., who arranged the details regarding horses, transport and 
sporting ; Mr. Knollys, who has since been so well known as 
Sir Francis Knollys, the Prince's Private Secretary ; Lord 
Alfred Paget, an old man and most attached friend to the 
Prince ; the Rev. Canon Duckworth, who went as Chaplain ; 
and Dr. Fayrer, who attended in the capacity of guardian to 
the Prince's health, and afterwards became a well known phy- 
sician and Sir Joseph Fayrer, Bart., F.R.S., etc. 

The Earl of Aylesford, Lord Carington and Colonel 
Owen Williams were invited, as personal friends of the Prince 
of Wales, to join the party, while Lieutenant the Lord Charles 
Beresford, M.P., who had accompanied the Duke of Edin- 
burgh on his preceding hasty visit, also lent his experience and 
unflagging gayety to the suite, and was aided by Lieutenant 
Augustus Fitz-George of the Rifle Brigade. Mr. Sydney Hall 
was the official artist of the tour ; Mr. Albert Grey (after- 
wards Earl Grey) was Private Secretary to Sir Bartle Frere ; 
and the present Sir William Howard Russell was a special cor- 
respondent with the nominal duties of Honorary Private Sec- 
retary to the Prince. When Parliament met various questions 
were asked as to whether the. expenses of the tour were to be 
charged to the British or Indian Governments; whether the 



i 3 4 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

Prince would represent the Queen ; whether he would super- 
sede the Governor-General for the time being, etc. On July 
8th Mr. Disraeli made a full statement for the first time in 
connection with the subject. He alluded to the previous 
travels of the Prince of Wales and expressed the opinion that 
they were the best form of education for a Royal personage. 
But the rules and regulations and etiquette which sufficed for 
the Prince in Canada and other countries would not do in 
India. One important difference was the probably costly 
character of the ceremonial presents which would have to be 
exchanged between the visitor and his hosts amongst the 
native Princes. Money would have to be granted for this, and 
the sum of ,£30,000 had been casually estimated for the pur- 
pose. The estimate of the Admiralty for the expenses of the 
voyage and corresponding movements of the fleet was £"52,000. 
He would ask for a vote of £60,000. The Prince would go as 
the Heir Apparent to the Crown and be the formal guest of the 
Viceroy from the time of setting foot upon Indian soil. The 
expenses of the tour were to be charged to the Indian Budget. 
This statement created some criticism, while the very small 
amount proposed for expenditure caused still more comment. 
As a matter of fact, the Prince did not exceed, in the end, the 
comparatively small amount voted. 

THE JOURNEY COMMENCED. 

On Sunday, October 10th, a farewell sermon was 
preached at Westminster Abbey by Dean Stanley, who ex- 
pressed the hope that the visit might leave behind it "on one 
side the remembrance of graceful acts, kind words, English 
nobleness, Christian principles, and on the other awaken in all 
concerned the sense of graver duties, wider sympathies, loftier 
purposes." On the following day the Prince left London 
amid marked popular demonstrations of respect and regard, ■ 
and with every evidence of a deep public interest shown by 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 135 

the press of the country. At Dover thousands of people 
cheered the Prince farewell. He took the boat for Calais, 
accompanied by the Princess, who, however, did not land, but 
returned home next morning. At Paris he was accidentally 
met by President MacMahon, who was leaving on the train for 
another place, and welcomed to France ; officially he was 
received by Lord Lyons, the British Ambassador. On the 
following day His Royal Highness lunched with Marshal 
MacMahon at the Elysee. This visit and the ensuing journey 
through Turin, Bologna and Ancona to Brindisi was carried 
out in a private and non-official capacity. Nevertheless, at 
every station there were officials, guards of honour and crowds 
of people to see the special go through and to do honour to 
the traveller. The bulk of the Royal suite followed the 
Prince a little later, and on October 16th the whole party met 
at Brindisi and the voyage proper commenced. 

WELCOMED BY THE KING OF THE GREEKS. 

Later in the Same day H. M. S. Serapis, under the com- 
mand of Captain the Hon. H. Carr-Glyn, accompanied by the 
Royal yacht Osbo7'?ie, left Brindisi, and two days later the 
Prince was being welcomed in Athens by the King of the 
Hellenes — Otto I — and by a picturesque Court clad in the 
attractive costumes of the nation. Visits to the Acropolis and to 
the country house of the King were followed by a State banquet 
at the Palace, which gathered together all that was eminent in 
modern Grecian life, glittering with laces, orders and decorations, 
and including some young men who have since become famous — 
Tricoupi, Delyannis, Commoundourus and Zaimes. Illumi- 
nations of the city ensued, and in the morning, after a Royal 
reception, the Prince left Athens through crowds of people, 
who seemed a little more demonstrative than had been the 
case at first. On October 20th the Piraeus was left behind 



1 36 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

after a farewell visit from the King and at dawn the next day 
Crete was in sight. The ship steered steadily ahead and three 
days later was welcomed at Port Said by Egyptian frigates on 
sea and Egyptian infantry on shore. 

There was no cheering from the people but much curiosity. 
A formal welcome was offered for the Khedive by Princes 
Tewfik, Hussein and Hassan, who were accompanied on their 
visit to the Serapis by the well-known statesman Nubar Pasha, 
and other officers of the Court. The Prince then transferred 
himself to a smaller vessel — the Osborne — and with a Royal 
Standard floating over the ship for the first time since the 
Empress Eugenie had opened the Suez Canal, he traversed 
that famous waterway. At Ismaila, the Prince and his suite 
landed and took a special train to Cairo, where His Royal 
Highness was welcomed by the Khedive in person, with the 
towerinof form of the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia standing 
behind, and a brilliantly uniformed Court around him. To the 
Prince of Wales the Gezireh Palace was given as his tempo- 
rary residence. The succeeding day was occupied with cere- 
monials of various kinds, a banquet being given by the Khe- 
dive at the Abdeen Palace in the evening, when the Prince 
passed to and fro in a lane of light made by myriad many- 
coloured lamps. 

On October 25th, the Prince of Wales invested Prince 
Tewfik — afterwards Khedive of Egypt — with the Order of the 
Star of India amidst all possible state. In a letter he told His 
Highness that the honour was conferred to mark British 
appreciation of the Khedive's friendship to England, and his 
good work in promoting the safety of British communication 
with India. The next day saw the Royal departure from 
Cairo after a formal visit from the Khedive, the Princes his 
sons, and his Ministers, who were again at the station to see 
him off a little later. Suez was reached in the evening and, 
amid elaborate preparations from the Pasha of that place, 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 



] 37 



crowds of people and illuminated men-of-war in the roadstead, 
the Prince and his party boarded the Serapis and, accompanied 
by the Osborne, proceeded on the voyage to Aden. Perim, 
which has been described as "a gigantic blistered clinker," 
was reached and passed on October 31st, and from the ship 
the Prince got his first view of Her Majesty's Indian troops. 
It is to be hoped that the cheering Bombay Infantry drawn up 
on that vitrified surface, got a fair view of the Prince in return. 
On the following day the volcanic-like Island of Aden was 
reached, and its fortifications gazed upon with interest. As 
the flag flew from the mast-head of the Serapis to announce 
its arrival the ships and crags rang with the roar of cannon. 
The Prince landed, clad in uniform of a somewhat mixed char- 
acter, with Field Marshal's insignia, and accompanied by his 
suite. Upon, or around, the platform and triumphal arch 
erected at the landing-place, was every variety of picturesque 
oriental costume with a background of mountain and blistered 
rock and white, painted houses. Chiefs from the mainland in 
gorgeous array, the King's Own Borderer's Regiment, all the 
ladies of the island in European or Asiatic costume, fierce- 
looking Arabs, meek-looking Hindoos, sleek Parsees, people 
from all the regions between the Persian Gulf, Zanzibar and 
Arabia, were there to welcome him. 

THE PRINCE RECEIVES AN ADDRESS 

A formal address was presented to His Royal Highness 
by the Resident — a Parsee — and then followed a drive through 
decorated streets with numerous arches and curious mottoes 
to the Residency. A Levee was held here and later in the day 
the ship was again boarded and steamed away from the Indian 
Gibraltar as it lay bathed in lines of light along all its town 
and batteries. 

Bombay was reached on November 8th, after a voyage 
which was upon the whole pleasant — certainly as far as 



138 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

surroundings and comforts could make it. For a few hours 
official visitors streamed on board, and then in the afternoon 
Lord Northbrook, Viceroy of India, appeared on the scene 
and was received with the honours due to his station. There 
had been some idea abroad that difficulties mi^ht arise as to 
the respective positions of the Heir Apparent and the Viceroy 
in State ceremonial, but from the day of this first formal meet- 
ing there does not seem to have been the slightest trouble 
upon the point. Each knew perfectly what pertained to th^ 
position and rank of the other. Then came the Governor of 
Bombay, Sir Philip Wodehouse, and with him the Commander- 
in-Chief of the Presidency, Lieutenant-General Sir Charles 
Staveley, and the members of the Council. Meanwhile the 
harbour was filled with ships and boats of all kinds, flags were 
streaming everywhere, in the distance was a vast triumphal 
arch spanning the waterway between two piers, and, as the 
Royal and Vice-regal party stepped into the barge and started 
for the landing-place, the cannon roared, bands played, guards 
saluted and crews cheered. 

As the Prince of Wales landed the scene was one of the 
most splendid conceivable. Long lines of seats draped in 
scarlet cloth stood out under the sides of the gigantic archway 
and upon them stood a multitude of native notabilities — Chiefs, 
Sirdars and gentlemen, Parsees, Hindoos, Mahrattas and 
Mohammedans — a crowd glittering in gems and bright in all the 
brilliant hues of Oriental garb. Amongst them also were the 
officers of the Government and Municipality, leading citizens 
and dignitaries, and all the ladies who could be found within 
a radius of a hundred miles. Flowers and shrubs and banners 
and flags were everywhere. An address expressive of loyalty 
and pride in the British Throne was presented from the Muni- 
cipality and duly answered, and then the Prince, with Lord 
Northbrook at his side, walked along a carpeted avenue, 
speaking to various Princes and Chiefs as they were presented 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 139 

— the first being Sir Salar Jung, the Prime Minister and 
representative and famous statesman of Hyderabad. At the 
end of the avenue, where carriages were taken for the proces- 
sion of seven miles through the teeming streets of the city, a 
band of Parsee girls in white were waiting to strew garlands 
and flowers in the Prince's carriage and on the roadway. 

There was no music in this wonderful night procession and 
its surroundings are difficult to describe. Mr. W. H. Russell, 
the diarist of the Royal tour, speaks of the spectacle as being 
absolutely baffling to the eye. " There was something almost 
supernatural in these long vistas winding down banks of varie- 
gated light, crowded with gigantic creatures waving their arms 
aloft and indulging in extravagant gesture, which the eye — 
baffled by rivers of fire, blinded with the glare of lamps and 
blazing magnesium wire and pots of burning matter — sought 
in vain to penetrate." The piled-up masses of human beino-s 
along these miles of streets ; the Parsee women in brilliant 
costumes, which vied with the colours of the surroundino- fires 
and lights ; crowds of Mohammedans ; Hindoo temples with 
roofs covered by Brahmins and their votaries; a Jew bazaar, 
an American store, a European warehouse, or a Japan temple 
in close proximity to each other and all bearing a burden of 
people in varied dress ; flashed a picturesque and never-endino- 
variety of sight and colour and character to the gaze of the 
quiet, dignified man who drove through it all as the central 
figure of a spectacle whose like may never be seen ao-ain. A 
banquet followed in the great hall of Government House, and 
a state reception closed the varied proceedings of this first 
busy day in historic Hindostan. 

Meanwhile, camp-fires blazed for miles around the city, 
the fiery furnace of the streets settled into as much of silence 
as an Oriental centre under such conditions could attain and 
all over India, in every mart and village and town where a 
gun could be found, volleys had announced the arrival of the 



i 4 o THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

heir to its Imperial throne. In the morning a Royal recep- 
tion was held at Government House and, amid splendid sur- 
roundings and every form of dignity and severe etiquette 
necessary to impress the visiting Prit.ces and Chiefs and 
Rajahs of the great Presidency of Bombay, His Royal High- 
ness stood or sat for hours in the intense heat, clad in a stiff 
uniform, laden with lace and buttoned up to the throat. With 
him were the Duke of Sutherland, Major-General Lord Alfred 
Paget, Sir Bartle Frere, Lord Suffield, Lord Charles Beres- 
ford and the rest of his suite. The Oriental dignitaries, each 
in great state, came with attendants and ceremonies and gifts 
in accordance with his rank. Each Prince was treated along 
graded lines of cordiality, courtesy or civility, as was sup- 
posed to become his position. The little Rajah of Kolapore ; 
the Maharajah of Mysore ; the Maharana of Oodeypore ; the 
Rao of Cutch — who left a sick bed and returned home to die ; 
the little Gaekwar of Baroda, who was described as looking 
like a crystallized rainbow and was accompanied by the fam- 
ous statesman, Sir Madhava Rao ; Sir Salar Jung of Hydera- 
bad ; and the Maharajah of Edur ; were received one after the 
other and then a succession of less important rulers with tre- 
mendous names, fierce-looking guards and more or less gorge- 
ous costumes. 

At the end of what was a Durbar in all but name the 
Prince was only beginning his functions for the day. The 
Viceroy had to be received and many matters discussed ; a 
visit was paid to the Serapis where the men were celebrating 
the Prince's birthday, as were many millions throughout India; 
telegrams were exchanged with the Princess at Sandringham ; 
every step was marked by pomp and splendour ; a state ban- 
quet was held in the evening and another, but less formal, 
reception afterwards. Meantime, the city, the shipping and 
the harbour were a blaze of light and general illumination — 
the great bay looking as if it were filled with rows of fiery 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 14 r 

pyramids and the streets as if all India were trying to pass 
through them. On November the 10th the Viceroy bade fare- 
well to the Prince, who did not see him again until near the 
end of his tour. He went on a journey himself to parts of 
India which His Royal Highness was unable to visit. Another 
formal reception of lesser Rajahs and Nawabs took place in the 
morning. In the afternoon the Prince drove into Bombay, 
accompanied by Sir Philip Wodehouse and held a Levee in 
the Government Buildings. Then followed a visit to the har- 
bour where, in an open space, seven thousand children of all 
castes, classes, colours and creeds, dressed in brilliant hues 
and laden with flowers, sang patriotic songs. They almost 
smothered the Royal guest in flowers as he ascended to his 
place. State visits were then made to a number of the native 
Princes who had been already received and, in the evening, 
a grand European ball, given by the Byculla Club, was 
attended. Other Chiefs were visited next day by the Prince 
— those who had not residences or were not of sufficient 
importance being assigned reception rooms at the Secretariat, 
or Government Buildings. 

THE PRINCE'S POPULARITY AT BOMBAY 

After this wearisome and almost unbearably hot business 
was over the Prince attended a dinner given by the people of 
Bombay to the sailors of the fleet and the vigorous cheering 
of these two thousand seamen as His Royal Highness entered 
the hall must have been a relief after the heavy and sustained 
etiquette of the past few days. Following this was the laying 
of the foundation stone of the Elphinstone Docks with 
Masonic ritual and ceremonies. Then came a visit to the 
Hyderabad Prime Minister and deputation and to others and 
a busy day closed with the usual state dinner and reception. 
On the evening of November 12th the famous Caves of Ele- 
phanta were visited and a banquet received by the Prince of 



142 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

Wales amongst these wonderful and massive efforts of distant 
ages to embody what seemed to them the divine attributes. 
Returning to the city the Royal barge passed between two 
rows of ships, discharging volleys, while the hulls and riggings 
were brightly illuminated, coloured fires were everywhere and 
earth and sky seemed merged in a tremendous display of fire- 
works and rockets. A visit to Poonah followed and this 
included an inspection of the Temple of Parbuttee, from one of 
the windows of which the last of the Peishwas had seen his 
forces routed on the plains of Kirkee below ; a review of 
native troops ; a reception in the city characterized by the 
usual fireworks, triumphal arches, crowded streets and revel of 
colour. 

On the 1 6th, His Royal Highness was back at Bombay 
considering plans which had been disarranged by the preva- 
lence of cholera in Southern India. Finally, it was decided to 
visit Baroda, the capital of a State where the Gaekwar had 
recently been deposed for his crimes. It was felt that danger 
might exist, as even the most evil of Eastern rulers has fanati- 
cal followers, but the former Resident, Sir R. Meade, expressed 
the belief that it could be done safely and would be of great 
service and the authorities and Prince, after much discussion, 
approved the change of programme. This last day in Bom- 
bay saw the presentation of colours to a battalion of Native 
Infantry amidst an immense concourse of people, and a ball 
given by the citizens at which natives, Chiefs and gentlemen 
could see Europeans dancing and amusing themselves. The 
presents received during this part of the tour numbered over 
four hundred and included specimens of every variety of 
Indian workmanship — tissues, brocade, cloths, arms, jewellery, 
gold, silver and metal. The Rajah of Kolapore, in addition 
to the gift of an ancient jewelled sword and dagger, had 
assigned ,£20,000, or $100,000, to the founding of a Hospital 
to be called after the Royal visitor. 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 143 

The journey to Baroda was commenced on November 
1 8th and finished early on the following morning". At the 
station the Prince of Wales was received by the Gaekwar, Sir 
Madhava Rao, the British agent and other officers, and out- 
side were triumphal arches and a rolling sea of dark, silent 
faces, topped by turbans of every colour in the rainbow. Out- 
side also was an enormous elephant, with a golden howdah on 
his back, and into this the Prince and the Gaekwar presently 
entered. Everything was cloth of gold and velvet. The pro- 
cession started after a time with a long line of gorgeously- 
caparisoned elephants following, a way was cleared for them 
by an advance guard of the 3rd Hussars, while in the rear were 
some of the Gaekwar's artillery and cavalry and a great crowd of 
Sirdars and lesser chiefs. The three miles to the Residency 
was lined by cavalry, and the spectacle must have been a 
superb one to see for the first time. The whole of the 
route was bordered by a light trellis work of bamboos, hung 
with lamps and festooned with flowers, while at certain points 
were special arches and clusters of flags. On his arrival the 
Prince held a sort of Durbar, paid a return visit to the Gaek : 
war and went to the Aesfa, or arena for wild-beast combats, 
where he saw Eastern wrestlers, an elephant fight, a buffalo 
tight, a struggle of fighting rams, and a show of wild or curious 
animals. The night was brilliant with illuminations, and the 
Prince accepted an invitation to dine with the 9th Native 
Infantry — an honour of which they were very proud. 

The next day was devoted to sport, and in the evening 
dinner was taken with another Native regiment. On the 
evening of the 21st the Prince visited the Gaekwar at the 
ancient Palace of the Mohtee Bagh, and on the way crossed a 
bridge spanned by triumphal arches, with men holding blazing 
torches placed along the parapets. Lamps and lights were 
everywhere. A great banquet was held, in the course of which 
Sir Madhava Rao expressed the thanks of the Gaekwar, and 



144 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

said that " it was now their felicity to see that Prince who was 
heir to a sceptre whose beneficent power and influence were 
felt in every quarter of the globe ; which dispelled darkness, 
diffused light, paralyzed the tyrant's hand, shivered the man- 
acles of the slave, extended the bounds of freedom, accelerated 
the happiness and elevated the dignity of the human race. 
He had come to inspect an Empire founded by the heroism 
and sustained by the statesmanship of England ; to witness 
the spectacle of indigenous principalities relying more securely 
on British justice than could mighty nations on their embattled 
hosts." 

THE PRINCE TAKES PART IN A HUNTING EXPEDITION 

After dinner, various Eastern performances in dancing 
and juggling were given, and then they departed for the shoot- 
ing grounds farther south, where " pig-sticking " and other 
sports were enjoyed. His Royal Highness succeeded in killing 
one wild boar. On November the 24th the Royal visitor 
arrived again at Bombay and went on board the Ser pis. On 
the following day he landed to take leave of the Governor, and 
suddenly, to the dismay of the local authorities who had lined his 
announced route with troops, intimated his intention to attend 
the wedding festivities of the son of Sir Munguldass Nuthoob- 
hoy, a great native merchant. The visit proved well worth the 
trouble, and the undisguised delight of the host and those pre- 
sent was a privilege to see. A farewell incident was the 
knighting of the energetic Chief of Police, Sir F. H. Soutar. 
At 6 p.m. the Ser apis was on its way to Goa. 

The visit to this ancient Portuguese dependency was not 
prolonged and the incidents of importance were few. But 
much that was curious was seen and many historical memories 
revived. On November 28th the little foreign strip of terri- 
tory was left behind and Beypore was sighted on the following 
day. It was found, however, that cholera existed along all the 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 145 

routes which the Prince proposed to take in this part of the 
country and the medical men would not take the responsibility 
of advising a continuance of the tour in this direction. The 
Prince bore his disappointment philosophically, though he had 
expected much pleasure from the splendid shooting places of 
the Mysore country. What can be said, however, of the dis- 
appointed people and authorities ? The Mysore Government 
had spent thousands of pounds in preparation ; Ootacamund, 
Bangalore, Travancore and other places had laid out much 
money and the population for hundreds of miles was stirred 
with expectancy. A visit was paid to the shore and a brief 
glance taken at the old-time land of Tippoo Sahib, and then 
the voyage was resumed to Ceylon. 

On December 1st the lights of Colombo were sighted, and 
soon the familiar spectacle of British men-of-war dressed to 
welcome royalty was seen. The sight at the landing-place was 
a pretty one, and the long avenue of gaily-decorated and 
flower-garlanded boats through which the Royal barge first 
passed was equally so. The Prince was received in a beautiful 
pavilion under a striking archway and everywhere in sight 
were arches and flags and palm-leaves, and massed displays of 
fruits and flowers, and tier on tier of spectators. All the 
dignitaries of Ceylon were there and the usual addresses and 
replies were given. Thence the Prince passed to the Govern- 
ment Buildings and took a drive round the town, meeting 
everywhere an enthusiastic and sincerely generous reception 
and a wealth of decoration in fruits and flowers and ferns. 
His Royal Highness gave a state banquet on the Serapis in 
the evening, while Colombo was illuminated and the ships 
were a blaze of light. Never were the Cinghelese more happy 
than on that day and night, and spectators found it hard to 
describe the revel of light, fantastic, Eastern pleasure. On 
the following day the railway train was taken for Kandy amid 



1 46 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

genuine British cheers from throngs of men clad in petticoats 
and wearing combs in front of their chignons. 

At this splendidly situated town — the ancient stronghold 
of Chiefs and the seat of more than one rebellion against earlier 
British rule — the Prince was received by a great number of 
queerly-clad but distinguished personages and Buddhist priests. 
The Governor, Mr. W. H. Gregory, who accompanied the 
Royal traveller, was unusually popular and this, perhaps, helped 
in the success of the reception. Addresses were received and 
in the evening the Governor held a state dinner attended by 
all the notabilities of Ceylon and accompanied outside by the 
beating of native drums, the blowing of myriad horns, the 
clang of mighty gongs and sounds of distant cheering. After- 
wards the Prince witnessed a grotesque and extraordinary pro- 
cession of elephants, dancers and priests of the Temple. On 
the following day he visited the Royal Botanical Gardens and 
in the evening held an investiture of the Order of St. Michael 
and St. George at which the Governor was knighted and some 
lesser honours given. The Chiefs and their stately and digni- 
fied wives were then formally presented. From the audience 
hall he afterwards passed to the Temple and was shown the 
famous "Sacred Tooth of Gotama Buddha"- — an object of 
veneration to many millions of the human race and of visible 
fear to the priests who stood around the Prince or took it from 
its precious and numerous cases. On December the 4th the 
Prince went on a visit to the interior of this wonderfully beau- 
tiful country and enjoyed the excitement of an elephant hunt 
and of killing some of those colossal creatures of the jungle. 
Colombo was reached again, three days later, and another state 
banquet attended in the evening. On the following day the 
new Breakwater was inaugurated by the Prince and in the 
evening a farewell banquet received and the city left amid 
scenes of brilliant illumination and fantastic Eastern beauty. 

The Prince of Wales and his suite landed in Tuticorin on 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 147 

the coast of India, again, on December 9th, and proceeded 
inland by train without any particular or formal reception. 
The Tamils were found to be a handsome, mild-natured, respect- 
ful people and the land cultivated and apparently prosperous. 
" At Mainachy, a deputation of six thousand native Christians 
and one thousand boys and girls, headed by the Rev. Dr. Cald- 
well and the Rev. Dr. Sargent, presented an address and a 
handsomely-bound Bible and Prayer-book in the Tamil lan- 
guage, to His Royal Highness. A native "lyric" was then 
sung by the children including words of which the following is 
a translation : " Crossing seas and crossing mountains, thou 
hast visited this southern-most region and granted to those 
who live under the shadow of thy Royal umbrella a sight of 
thy benign countenance." Madura was reached a few hours 
later and found to be profusely decorated, one of the arches 
being made of native work in perforated paper, covered with 
talc plates and silver plaques in front of a screen of red. The 
name of the town signified " sweetness " and it turned out to 
be a place of great charm, imposing buildings and unusual 
cleanliness. The Rajah of Pudducottah was duly received 
and during his visit he showed the Prince a book consistino- of 
original letters, dispatches etc., which had passed between Clive 
and his own ancestor during the times of French and English 
struggle for supremacy in Southern India. The Prince visited 
some of the ancient buildings of the place, including the 
Temple of Minakshee, where Nautch girls scattered flowers 
before him and garlands were placed over his shoulders, and 
the Tank of the Golden Lotus and received a number of inter- 
esting presents from the Rajah and from the Ranee of Shiva- 
gunga. He left on December nth for Trichinoply, where he 
arrived in a few hours. 

Here, His Royal Highness, after his progress through 
flowers, arches, crowds, officials and decorations of unusual 
richness and taste, visited the famous Temple of Seringham 



i 4 S THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

which has been described as " a vast bewildering mass of gate, 
towers, enclosures, courts, terraces and halls." In one of the 
last-named there were one thousand columns of granite each 
consisting of one block and carved with elaborate images of 
deities. The next place seen was the ancient Palace of the 
Nawabs of the Carnatic and here presentation of the notabili- 
ties of the city took place and an address was received by the 
future European Emperor of India in the very home of the 
olden Eastern power. The scene from this place in the evening 
was very striking— immense multitudes below, a great tank full 
of boats and blazing with coloured fires and lights, Clive's 
historic home on the opposite side and, above and over all, 
the vast pyramidical pile, the Rock of Trichinoply, with its 
Temple of Ganesa crowning the famous precipice and towering 
above the city. 

PRINCE WELCOMED IN MADRAS 

On December the 12th, the Royal visitor was again travel- 
ling and on the following day reached Madras, where he was 
formally welcomed by Lieutenant-Governor the Duke of Buck- 
ingham, the Rajah of Cochin, the Maharajah of Travancore, 
the Prince of Arcot, the Rajah of Vizianagram and others. 
The procession then passed from the station to Government 
House through the narrow streets of the native town and the 
wide thoroughfares of the European quarters. A golden 
umbrella was held over the Prince's head and thus the massed 
populace — more fortunate than that of Bombay — was able to 
be certain of his identity. At the Wallahjah Bridge some 
thousands of students and boys and girls were ranged on both 
sides, each school with its distinctive banners and badges. The 
audiences given afterwards at Government House to Native 
Chiefs, and the return visits, were conducted in the same 
manner and style as those at Bombay. In the afternoon a 
crowded Levee was held and in the evening a state banquet 



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THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 149 

given to which the Governor invited all the chief personages in 
the City and Presidency. A brief reception followed and then 
His Royal Highness drove out to the Duke's country resi- 
dence where he spent the following day in seclusion as being 
the anniversary of his father's death. 

The events of the succeeding day included fashionable 
and interesting races at Guindy Park which all the Madras 
world attended under the patronage of the Prince ; and in the 
afternoon a Royal reception of the Chancellor and officers and 
Fellows of the University ; of the Grand Officers of the local 
Freemasonry ; of Commissions or deputations from Mysore 
and Coorg- and Coimbatore. Each of the latter bore shifts and 
all presented addresses. Formal calls were made upon the 
principal Chiefs and a memorial foundation stone of the new 
Harbour works laid. The latter was an impressive scene and 
on his way home the Prince, despite pouring rain, visited the 
historic Fort of St. George with its many reminders of past 
struggle and conquest. Another state banquet and reception 
followed. 

On the following day the Prince enjoyed a spectacle of 
Indian jugglery and saw feats performed which in a western 
land would be deemed miraculous. December the 1 7th saw 
His Royal Highness lunching at the Madras Club where he 
tested Indian curries in their highest state of development and 
in the afternoon he was welcomed at the Park by thousands 
of children. A little later he reviewed a body of troops accom- 
panied by the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Paul Haines. With 
the latter he dined in the evening and at ten o'clock drove to 
the Pier to see the great event of the visit. This was an 
illumination of the sea. Mr. W. H. Russell in his Diary says : 
" Man will never see any spectacle more strange — nay awful. 
Neither pen nor pencil can give any idea of it. It was exciting, 
grand, wierd and beautiful." Fireworks from the ships looked 
like volcanoes bursting from the deep, while multiplied 



i 5 o THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

fireboats had an effect upon the stony ink-blackness of the surf, 
like rolling flames pouring in upon the shores. At midnight 
the Prince passed from this scene to a special Native enter- 
tainment in his honour. The great railway station had been 
converted into a decorated theatre crowded with many thous- 
and natives. Upon the elevated platform the Prince received 
an address and an exquisite gold casket and then watched a 
prooramme of eastern dancing. At six in the morning the 
Prince was up and away to attend a meet of the Madras pack 
and enjoy a few hours' sport — and in the afternoon the Serapis 
was again his home and Madras was left behind. 

After a pleasant voyage up the Bay of Bengal the Prince 
of Wales arrived at Fort William, passed through a great fleet 
of vessels and prepared to enter Calcutta, the capital of the 
oreat Eastern Empire. Meantime, many eminent Indian 
officials and unofficial personages called to pay their respects 
and finally, the Earl of Northbrook, Viceroy and Governor- 
General. Amidst the thunder of artillery from fleet and forts 
His Royal Highness then landed and was welcomed by a great 
multitude of people, luxuriously seated in tiers of seats ranged 
beside two pavilions draped in scarlet, the canopies of which 
were upheld by gold pillars wreathed with flowers. Beyond 
was a massive arch of triumph and the platform and landing stage 
was carpeted' with red cloth. In the surrounding crowd was the 
whole central machinery of government amongst three hundred 
millions of people and Rajahs, Chiefs and authorities innumer- 
able. The procession through the "City of Palaces" was 
marked by the same splendour, the same crowds, the same 
curious contrasts as had impressed the observer at Bombay. 
But the absence of the night effect and its wierd illumination 
and the presence of certain indefinable elements made it more 
dignified ; while the greater number of English people gave a 
certain leaven of western enthusiasm which had been wanting 
elsewhere. In the evening a magnificent banquet was given 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 151 

by the Viceroy and the city was a blaze of light and the scene 
of general festivity. 

The day before Christmas saw a state reception more 
remarkable than any yet held. The first native prince to be 
received was the Maharajah of Puttiala— a melancholy-faced 
man who died soon afterwards. Then followed the Maharajah 
Holkar of Indore wbo was said to have ,£5,000,000 in gold 
stored away; the Maharajah of Jodhpore, who wore an inde- 
scribable glittering mass of gems; the Maharajahs of Jeypore, 
Cashmere, Gwalior ; the Sultana Jehan, Begum of Bhopal, of 
whom little more than a shawl and a silk hood could be seen ; 
and the Maharajah of Rewah, a dignified personage who was 
said by some writers to be suffering from leprosy. A Levee 
was then held and the Prince, for two hours, with the Duke of 
Sutherland on one side of him and Lieutenant-Governor Sir 
Richard Temple on the other, stood in full uniform bowing 
to a steady stream of people. Another state banquet in the 
evening, and then attendance at an entertainment some miles 
out of town gotten up by Native gentlemen, brought this Christ- 
mas Eve to a close. On the following day the Prince attended 
service at the Cathedral accompanied by Lord Northbrook 
and listened to a powerful sermon from Bishop Milman — who 
died of a fever caught on his Episcopal tour a few weeks later. 
He then drove to the harbour and went on board the Serapis, 
which was decked out in imitation of winter, and here had a 
sort of Christmas dinner. The rest of the day was spent at 
Barrackpoor, the Viceroy's country residence, but better known 
as the place where the terrible first signs of the Mutiny were 
detected. After church on the 26th (Sunday) the Prince 
made an excursion to the little French territory of Chander- 
nagore — one of the remnants of historic empire. 

On the following day His Royal Highness held another 
reception for Chiefs attended by envoys from the King of 
Burmah, the Maharajah of Punnah in person, an embassy from 



152 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

Nepaul, the noble-looking Rajah of Jheend, the Maharajahs 
of Benares, Nahun, and Johore. This was the last of the 
Chiefs, for the moment, and the Prince and his wearied suite 
could rest from a succession of sights and ceremonies in which 
dark-featured magnates with diamonds, emeralds, rubies and 
pearls and an infinite variety of Sirdar escorts, must have come 
to be a mere picturesque and confused medley. Many splendid 
presents were received and on the two following days return 
visits were paid in state. On December 21st the Prince wit- 
nessed a tent-pegging exhibition by the 10th Bengal Cavalry, 
made a round of the hospitals and asylums, and wound up with 
a garden party at Belvidere and a dinner and grand ball at 
Government House. 

On New Year's Day the Prince of Wales held a Chapter 
of the Order of the Star of India in place of the Durbar which 
could only be held by the direct representative of the Sovereign. 
Opposite the entrance to Government House a canopied dais 
was erected, carpeted with cloth of gold, covered with light- 
blue satin and supported upon silver pillars. Two chairs with 
silver arms were placed upon the dais and around it were the 
marines and sailors of the Scrapis while on the left were 
infantry of the line. At nine o'clock came the processions, 
each presaged by a flourish of trumpets. First came the Com- 
panions of the Order, Native and European, presenting a 
stream of picturesque uniforms and costumes. Then the 
Knights Grand Cross entered the Pavilion followed in the 
case of each Indian dignitary by a small procession of Sirdars 
in rich and varied dress — the Begum of Bhopal, Sir Salar Jung, 
the Maharajah of Puttiala, Lord Napier of Magdala, the 
Maharajah of Travancore, Sir Bartle Frere, the Maharajahs 
of Rewah, Jeypoor, Indore, Cashmere, and Gwalior. Then 
came the Prince of Wales wearing a white helmet and plume, 
and a Field Marshal's uniform almost concealed by his sky- 
blue mantle. Following him was the Viceroy and the two 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 153 

took the chairs placed on the dais. His Excellency, as Grand 
Master of the Order, then went through the ceremonial of 
opening the Chapter and then, from out the tented field of, 
literally, cloth of gold which surrounded the Royal pavilion, 
came one by one the Knights to be. Each in turn left his 
tent with stately accompaniments, approached, bowed and 
knelt at the footstool of His Royal Highness who spoke certain 
prescribed words and placed the Collar of the Order around 
his neck. As he rose the number of guns to which he was 
entitled thundered forth their salute. The Maharajahs of 
Jodhpoor and Jheend were thus invested with the Grand Cross 
and a number of others were made Knights Commander or 
Companions of the Order. The proceedings closed with a 
procession to Government House which lacked no element of 
Oriental splendour and displayed untold wealth in jewels and 
unique characteristics in costume. 

In the afternoon the Prince unveiled an equestrian statue 
of the late Lord Mayo and afterwards attended a polo match. 
In the evening he drove to see the illumination of the fleet 
and then attended in state a theatrical performance with 
Charles Matthews as the central figure. On January 2nd, 
church was attended at Fort William and the arsenal inspected ; 
the Botanical Gardens and Bishop's College visited ; and an 
amateur concert of sacred music listened to at Government 
House in the evening. The next day's programme included 
the spectacle of tent-pegging and polo-playing between rival 
regiments ; the reception of an LL. D. degree from the 
University of Calcutta; a visit to a Hindoo Zenana under 
arrangements made by Miss Baring, Lady Temple and others ; 
and a farwell reception at Government House. 

The Royal special train arrived at Bankipoor station, near 
Patna, on the morning of January 4th and the Prince was duly 
welcomed by Sir Richard Temple, Lieutenant-Governor of Ben- 
gal, his officers and a great concourse of people. He was 



[ 54 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 



driven through an avenue of four hundred elephants, all gaily 
caparisoned, to the Durbar tent, where, under a canopy and 
in front of a sort of throne, H is Royal H ighness held a Levee and 
marked in every way possible his approval of the splendid work 
lately done by Sir R. Temple and his officials in stamping out 
famine. Luncheon followed, and then the train was taken for 
Benares. Here he arrived at dark and found the magnificent 
ghauts or terraces alive with lights. The procession drove 
over the bridge of boats across the Ganges and through 
crowded streets out to the camp of the Lieutenant-Governor, 
Sir John Strachey, where a special and beautiful structure had 
been prepared for the Prince. On the following day an address 
was presented by the Municipality of Benares and answered, 
a Lev^e held, the foundation-stone of a Hospital laid, the 
Rajah of Vizianagram visited, the famous Temples inspected. 
At sunset the Prince embarked in a galley and went four miles 
up the Ganges to the old Fort of Ramnagar, where he was 
received at a carpeted and decorated landing-place by the 
Maharajah of Benares and witnessed a beautiful spectacle of 
illuminated river and battlements. Preceded by spearsmen 
and banners, carried in gold and silver chairs, passing between 
lines of cavalry, accompanied by elephants and the constant 
strains of wild music, the host and his Royal guest then went 
to the Castle. From the roof was seen another charming 
sight — the Ganges and its banks and terraces so lit up as to 
look like a myriad of tiny stars passing between banks of 
flaming gold. More presents were received and the drive back 
to the camp commenced. 

THE PRINCE VISITS LUCKNOW 

Next day, the journey was resumed to Lucknow, on the 
Oudh and Rohilcund Railway. At that much-modernized 
city the Prince of Wales arrived on January 6th and stayed at 
what was once Outram's head-quarters. Here, next morning, 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 155 

he held two Levees — a Native and a European one — and then 
drove to see the historic spots of the famous city. In the 
afternoon he laid the foundation-stone of a Memorial to the 
Natives who fell in defence of the Residency and the Empire 
during the Mutiny. Lord Northbrook had succeeded in 
getting together many of the survivors from all over India and 
they stood around His Royal Highness in their old war-worn 
uniforms. A touching scene followed the Prince's impromptu 
intimation that these veterans might be presented to him, and 
to each he said a word of kindness. In the afternoon a Native 
entertainment was given in his honour at the ancient Palace of 
the Kings of Oudh and a crown set in jewels was presented 
with the formal address. A reception, banquet, and fireworks, 
followed, and on the next day the Prince enjoyed a little hard 
riding and " pig-sticking" sport, during which Lord Carington 
had his collar-bone broken. 

Sunday was spent quietly in visiting various interesting 
places, after church, and on the succeeding day the Prince 
presented colours to a Native regiment and watched a march- 
past of troops. In the afternoon Cawnpore was visited, and 
then the train taken for Delhi, which was reached on the 
morning of January nth. The entry into the Imperial City 
was surrounded with all possible pomp and circumstance. 
Lines of soldiery kept the streets from the station to the 
Royal camp, where rows of tents, avenues of shrubs and 
flowers, marquees and beautiful enclosures, formed a temporary 
home for the visitor and his suite. The first function was the 
reception of an address from the Municipality of a city which 
for one thousand years had been the seat of dynasties and 
native rule. A Levee followed and then dinner with Lord 
Napier of Magdala in his own mess-tent. On the following 
day a grand review was held and for an hour and a half a 
stream of horse, foot and guns flowed past. Then came a 
great banquet given by the Prince to the generals and officers 



156 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

and a ball at Selinghur in those " marble halls of dazzling 
light " which have been so often described. During the next 
few days a great sham fight was held ; a visit paid to the 
Kootab, where the Prince mounted the summit of the famous 
pillar and viewed the wide-spread scene of ruin ; the beautiful 
Mausoleum of Houmayoun was seen ; and the illumination 
of the ancient city witnessed. 

A REMARKABLE SPECTACLE AT LAHORE 

On January 17th the beautiful city of tents disappeared 
and the Prince of Wales was on his way to Lahore. There, 
he was received with the usual state and drove four miles to 
Government House under the shade of a golden umbrella and 
in the gaze of a vast multitude of people. A remarkable spec- 
tacle was presented on the way by the encampment of the 
Rajahs of the Punjaub. In front of them stood a long line of 
elephants, caparisoned in gold and silver and gems, with armed 
retainers and a salute for the Royal visitor, which included all 
that the roll of drums, blare of trumpets and clang and roar of 
many strange instruments could produce. Amidst the ele- 
phants flashed lance and sword and cuirass and other things 
reminiscent of the days of western chivalry. At Government 
House an address was presented by the members of the City 
Council, wearing turbans of £old tissue, brocaded robes and 
coils of gems around their necks. A European Levee fol- 
lowed and then came the Native Chiefs. Afterwards the 
Prince visited the citadel and watched the sun set over the 
plains from a window once used by the Lion of Lahore in his 
days of power. 

The next day saw a return visit to the Chiefs in their pic- 
turesque, costly and oriental encampments ; the opening of a 
Soldiers' Industrial Exhibition at Mean Meer ; and a beauti- 
ful illumination of the exquisite Shalimar Gardens in the 
evening. On January 20th the Prince left for Jummoo to 




HAWARDEN CASTLE 

The ?eat of Mr. Gladstone; visited by the Prince .if Wale 




HATFIELD HOUSE 
The seat of the Marquess of Salisbury ; visited by the Prince of Wales. 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 157 

visit the Maharajah of Cashmere. Later in the day he was 
welcomed by this ruler, some seven miles from his capital and, 
mounted on an elephant preceeded and followed by a stately 
cortege, the Royal visitor passed through two miles of winding 
streets, brilliantly lighted and lined by Native troops, while 
piled-up masses of people showed many types of the Cash- 
meres, Lamas, Sikhs, Afghans, etc. On the summit of a great 
rido-e was a specially constructed building created at enormous 
cost for the visitor's accomodation. The usual reception fol- 
lowed together with a great banquet. Sport was the occupa- 
tion of the next day and in the evening a procession took 
place through the illuminated city to dine at the Palace with 
the Maharajah. A feature of the latter's entertainment was 
an extraordinary sacred dancing drama by Lamas from Thibet. 
The departure on the following morning occurred amid all the 
state that Cashmere could present — and that was not little. 
At Wazirabad, on the way back to Lahore, a brief visit was 
paid, a great bridge inaugurated and a banquet accepted. 
Government House was reached in the evening and, with 
Lieutenant-Governor Sir H. Davies, His Royal Highness then 
attended a Native entertainment at the College and witnessed 
fireworks lighting up all the forts and battlements and a sea of 
heads in the distant darkness. 

After a quiet Sunday at Lahore, the departure was made 
for Ao-ra. On the way Umritzur was visited and the route to 
the Fort was lined and arched with artificial cypress-trees, 
gilded branches and garlands. An address was presented 
from the Municipality in which Sikh, Mohammedan and Hindoo 
united in expressions of fervent loyalty. Here the Golden 
Temple was visited. At Rajpoorah a stop was made to accept 
a banquet from the Maharajah of Puttiala in a beautiful palace 
of canvas. Early on January 25th Agra was reached and the 
usual Oriental reception and procession followed. At the 
camp on the following day a Levee was held and a large 



i 5 8 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

number of Native Chiefs presented. In the afternoon the 
troops of the latter passed in review before the Prince — a 
mixture of thousands of men and elephants, camels, horses 
and bullocks, and knights in armour. 

* The principal event of the ensuing day was a visit to the 

famous and exquisite Taj Mahul — " too pure, too holy, to be 
the work of human hands." During the next few days some 
time was spent in shooting with the Maharajah of Bhurtpore ; 
a grand ball was given at the Fort ; a long interview granted 
Sir Dinkur Rao, the Native statesman ; local convents and 
schools visited ; the tomb of Akbar the Great — described as 
the grandest in the world — seen at Sekundra ; a visit paid to 
the loyal Maharajah of Gwalior at Dholepoor. The next 
point visited was the famous old fortress of Bhurtpore and 
then the beautiful city of Jeypoor. Here the Prince went 
tiger shooting with the Rajpoot Chiefs and shot his tiger and, 
in the evening of February 5th, saw illuminations in which 
every Indian device appeared to have been exhausted. From 
the hospitalities of the Maharajah the Prince, however, soon 
turned away with his face towards the Himalayas and his 
heart in the prospective period of sport and liberty. The 
land of Kumaoun was the scene and with him was a camp 
which included twenty-five hundred persons without counting 
a perambulating army of provision carriers. Bears, elephants, 
tigers, wild boars and varied birds and game were amongst the 
trophies of his gun during a period of splendid sport which 
lasted until March 6th. 

1 On that day the Prince resumed his tour and his Royal 

state and proceeded to Allahabad where he was met by Lord 
Northbrood and held a reception and an investiture of the 
Star of India at which Major-General Sir Samuel Browne, 
V. C, Major-General Sir D. M. Probyn and Surgeon-General 
Sir J. Fayrer received the ensignias of knighthood. The route 
was then continued to Indore and, on the way, the Prince 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 159 

stopped long enough at Jubalpoor to see seven Thugs who 
had been in jail for thirty-five years for having committed an 
immense number of murders — one of them boasted sixty-five. 
At Indore, His Royal Highness was received by the Mahara- 
jah Holkar with due state and went through the usual pro- 
gramme of reception, visits and banquets — important in this 
case as being the last. Bombay was reached on March nth 
and two days later all farewells were made and the future 
Emperor of India had left the shores of that mysterious, 
tragic and historical land, after having travelled in seventeen 
weeks seven thousand six hundred miles by land and two 
thousand three hundred miles by sea ; met more Chiefs and 
notabilities than all the Indian Viceroys of the past put 
together ; and seen more of the country and its surface life 
and varied customs than any living man. 

HE MEETS LORD LYTTON AT SU-EZ 

Before leaving the Prince addressed a letter to the Vice- 
roy expressing appreciation of the reception given to him and 
of the loyalty shown by the people. On the way home news 
came that Lord Lytton, the first representative of the Queen 
as Empress of India, was on the way out. As a personal 
friend of the Prince of Wales it was fitting that they should 
meet at Suez, where the new Viceroy came on board. At 
Cairo, the Prince was welcomed by the Khedive and his suite 
and a new round of gaiety commenced, including visits to the 
Pyramids and a little quiet shooting. At Alexandria, on April 
2nd the Prince entertained the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia 
at dinner on the Serapis. The next point touched was 
Malta, where the thunder of the saluting fleet and fortress 
made the heavens ring. Here, seven addresses were presented 
and much enthusiasm shown by the populace. A great ban- 
quet was given by Sir W. and Lady Straubenzee and on 



160 THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 

April 7th new colours were presented by His Royal Highness 
to the 98th Regiment. Other functions followed. On April 
15th the Prince was joined by his brother, the Duke of Con- 
naught. The Island was enftte, and one of the events of the 
visit was the reception of a deputation from the Sultan of Mor- 
rocco. The festive proceedings of the time were wound up 
with a great ball. 

WELCOMED IN SPAIN 

The Prince of Wales landed incognito at Cadiz on April 
20th and then proceeded with the Duke of Connaught quietly 
to visit Seville and Cordova. At Madrid, which was reached 
on April 25th, the Royal party were formally welcomed by 
King Alfonso XII. and attended a state reception at the 
Palace. A military review was held by the King, and then a 
train was taken for the Palace of the Escurial, where King 
Alfonso acted as guide for his Royal guests amidst the 
bewildering artistic and other treasures of that immense and 
historic pile. Various functions of stately dignity followed 
the return of the Prince to Madrid, and the departure of the 
Duke for London, and the incidents of the period included 
attendance at a sitting of the Spanish Cortes, and the spec- 
tacle of a bull-fight. On April 30th His Royal Highness 
departed for Lisbon, where, on the following day, he was for- 
mally welcomed by King Louis of Portugal, his Court, the 
Foreign Ministers and the British Admirals of the fleet in the 
Tagus. There were no flags, or arches, or decorations, or 
tokens of welcome in the streets of Lisbon, but there was a 
vast mass of silent and respectful people. Many functions 
followed during the next few days and on May 7th the Serapis 
started once more for England. Four days later the ship was 
met by a yacht bearing the Princess of Wales and the Royal 
children and, in a few hours, the Heir Apparent was again at 
home from his famous journey and receiving a welcome at 
Portsmouth which was a fitting prelude to similar greetings in 
London and elsewhere. 



THE PRINCE OF WALES IN INDIA 161 

Such a tremendous experience as this tour had proved 
could not but have a pronounced and important effect. The 
burden of a continuous succession of events in which he was 
the central figure ; the strain of a steady succession of brilliant 
spectacles presenting a kaleidoscopic variety of sight and sound 
and splendour and incident ; the weight of a constant burden 
of ceremonial and state observances in a land where the 
slightest carelessness, or indifference, or cordiality — at the 
wrong moment — meant mortal offense to some important dig- 
nitary, caste, or interest ; the physical trial of innumerable 
functions to a man clad in European costumes in a tropical 
climate ; the infinite variety of his duties, the peculiar charac- 
ter of the hours maintained, the lack of sleep and the con- 
tinuous round of banquets ; must have tried the mind and heart 
and body about equally. In the end the experience must have 
broadened the conceptions and ideas of the Prince ; educated 
him in a better perception of his immense responsibilities; 
trained him in an iron school of etiquette and helped to teach 
him that inflexible routine of duty which must ever face a 
British Sovereign. 

To the people of India the tour brought home a clearer 
perception of the personal power presiding over their destinies 
and a vivid picture of the greatness of the authority before 
which all their greatest dignitaries with the traditions of many 
thousand years, bowed in loyal obeisance. To the imaginative 
Indian mind nothing more effective could have been presented 
than the scenes of that brilliant and triumphal passage through 
the stamping ground of ancient conquerors. To the people of 
Great Britain it brought home a more realizable sense of the 
vastness of their dominions and the equivalent greatness of 
their national duty and responsibility. It helped to lay the 
foundation of that Imperial future of which Disraeli then 
dreamed and for which others have since laboured with a 
measure of success shown in the events preceding and follow- 
ing the accession of Edward VII., King and Emperor 



CHAPTER IX. 

Thirty Years of Public Work. 

DURING the years between 1872 and the end of the 
century the Prince of Wales filled a place in public 
affairs not unlike that of the Prince Consort in the 
later and ripest period of his useful life. He grew steadily in 
the faculties which make for wisdom in council and action 
while retaining and developing the qualities which make for 
popularity and, in a Prince, may embody the characteristics 
and feelings of his nation. In those thirty years he saw much 
and travelled far ; met many men of varied qualities and 
attainments and character ; learned much by personal experi- 
ence and observation and much from other people's experi- 
ence ; tested almost the pinnacle of earthly splendour in his 
Indian tour and learned in private something of the suffering 
which comes to all individuals whether great or little. He 
created the position of Heir Apparent as now understood ; 
gave it a significance and value never before attained to ; and 
filled it with a tact and ability which no detraction or misrep- 
resentation could practically affect, and which in time made 
him the admittedly most all-round popular man in the United 
Kingdom. 

Before his illness the Prince had carried out a good many 
public engagements and helped a great number of useful 
objects. After that event and the outpouring of popular sen- 
timent which found vent in the National Thanksgiving he 
became still more devoted to his round of public duties. On 
July 5th 1872, His Royal Highness visited the new Grammar 

162 



THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 163 

School at Norwich and inspected the Norfolk Artillery Militia 
of which he was Honorary Colonel. At a banquet given by 
the Mayor he referred to his late illness, in expressing thanks 
for local sympathy, and added : " It is difficult now for me to 
speak upon that subject but as it has pleased Almighty God 
to preserve me to my country I hope I may not be ungrateful 
for the feeling which lias been shown towards me and that I 
may do all that I can to be of use to my countrymen." On 
July 25th, he reviewed four thousand boys of the Training 
ships and Pauper Schools of the Metropolitan Unions at 
South Kensington, and distributed prizes. The Prince was 
accompanied by the Princess of Wales and his sons. A 
little later, on August 11th, the Breakwater at Portland was 
inaugurated, the Royal yacht being accompanied from Os- 
borne by a splendid fleet of fifteen ironclads. At the conclu- 
sion of the ceremony the Prince visited Weymouth, which was 
gaily decorated, and where he accepted a public banquet. 

THE PRINCE MAKES A VISIT TO DERBY 

The next important English function of His Royal High- 
ness was a state visit to Derby on December 17th. The 
announcement that the Prince and Princess were coming to 
Chatsworth to stay with the Duke of Devonshire and would 
also visit Derby created much interest and on the appointed 
day brought great crowds from Birmingham, Manchester, 
Sheffield, Nottingham and Chesterfield to swell the population 
of the city. After driving through the decorated streets and 
cheering crowds various loyal addresses were received and 
prizes presented at the City Grammar School. On the even- 
ing of March 27th, 1873, the Prince presided at the annual 
dinner of the Railways' Benevolent Institution. In a some- 
what lengthy little speech he explained its purposes and asked 
for aid in their attainment. The result was a subscription of 
five thousand guineas to which he himself contributed two 
hundred guineas. 



164 THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 

A duty which was congenial in one sense and sad in 
another was the unveiling of a statue of the late Prince Con- 
sort at the entrance of the Holborn Viaduct in London on 
January 9th, 1874. A luncheon followed in the Guild Hall 
attended by some eight hundred guests and at which the 
Prince made a short speech. A few weeks later the Prince 
and Princess of Wales were at St. Petersburg to attend the 
marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh with the Grand Duchess 
Marie Alexandrovna of Russia on January 23rd. The mar- 
riage ceremony was performed in much state with the successive 
rites of the Greek and English Churches — Dean Stanley 
presiding over the latter. Four future Sovereigns were pres- 
ent on the occasion, the Prince of Wales, the Crown Prince of 
Prussia, the Czarewitch of Russia and the Crown Prince of 
Denmark. During this visit the Prince and Princess were 
treated with great distinction by the Czar and a grand military 
review was held in honour of His Royal Highness. The anni- 
versary festival of the British Orphan Asylum was attended on 
March 25th, in London, and a speech was made by His Royal 
Highness explanatory of the useful objects of the institution. 
The subscriptions announced during the evening amounted to 
/2400. An important incident of the year was the visit of 
the Shah of Persia to England and the splendid entertain- 
ments given in honour of an Oriental Sovereign whose friend- 
liness was of serious import in the event of trouble between 
Great Britain and Russia. The Prince of Wales devoted con- 
siderable time to the task of welcoming and entertaining the 
Royal visitor and gave one great banquet, in particular, at 
Marlborough House which was remarkable for its effective 
magnificence. 

A dinner was given on March 31st by the Lord Mayor of 
London to Major-General Sir Garnet Wolseley — afterward 
Field Marshal, Viscount Wolseley — on his return from the 
successful Ashantee expedition and the Prince of Wales made 



THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 165 

a tactful speech on the occasion expressive of the thanks of 
the nation for the services of officers and men in that arduous 
campaign. On April 22nd the Prince presided over a dinner 
in aid of the funds of the Royal Medical Benevolent Hospital. 
The leading men of the profession were present and, after a 
speech from the Prince, donations of ^1780 were announced 
by the Secretary with the usual one hundred guinea subscrip- 
tion from the Royal chairman. A different kind of function 
was His Royal Highness' attendance at a dinner of the 
Benchers of the Middle Temple on June nth. The Master 
of the Temple, the Rev. Dr. Vaughan, presided and others 
present were the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord 
Chief Justice. The Prince, as a Bencher, wore the silk gown 
of a Queen's Counsel as well as the riband of the Garter and 
made a brief speech in which he expressed the modest opinion 
that it was a good thing for the profession at large that he 
had never been called to the Bar. On August 13th the new 
Municipal Buildings and Law Courts at Plymouth were opened 
by the Prince after a formal reception at the hands of the 
Mayor and a procession through the artistically decorated and 
densely packed streets of the city. 

FIRST STATE VISIT TO BIRMINGHAM 

An interesting event of this year and one which created 
considerable discussion and comment was the first state visit 
of the Prince and Princesss of Wales to Birmingham. For 
half a century that city had been a centre of Radicalism, of 
extreme democratic opinion and, in earlier days, of Chartist 
turbulence. The Mayor, in 1874, was Mr. Joseph Chamber- 
lain who was then noted for democratic views which were sup- 
posed in many quarters to extend to the full measure of 
republicanism. Doubt was even expressed as to whether the 
Royal reception would be as cordial as might be desired or the 
Mayor as courteous, in the sense of loyal phraseology, as was 



1 66 THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 

customary. The visit took place on November 3rd and a 
most cordial welcome was given by all classes of the people. 
Mr. Chamberlain presented an address in the Town Hall and 
at a subsequent luncheon spoke of the Queen as " having 
established claims to the admiration of her people by the loyal 
fulfillment of responsible duties." In reference to this and 
other speeches which he made as chairman the London Times 
of the succeeding day declared that "whatever Mr. Chamber- 
lain's views may be his speeches of yesterday appear to us to 
have been admirably worthy of the occasion and to have done 
the highest credit to himself." They were described as being 
couched in a line of "courteous homage, manly independence 
and gentlemanly feeling." 

The annual dinner of the Royal Cambridge Asylum was 
presided over by His Royal Highness on March 13th, 1875; 
the Merchant Taylors' School in the Charterhouse was visited 
on April 6th ; the German Hospital annual banquet was pre- 
sided over ten days later and donations of ^5000 to its funds 
announced during the evening — including one hundred guineas 
from the Prince ; the installation of the Heir Apparent as 
Grand Master of the English Freemasons took place on April 
28th. On June 5th he presided at the yearly banquet of the 
Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution for providing pen- 
sions or annuities for persons ruined by agricultural depression. 
The Earl of Hardwicke in proposing the Royal chairman's 
health said that " the position of the Prince of Wales is not one 
of the easiest. He has no definite duties, but the duty he has 
laid down for himself is of a very definite nature. It is to 
benefit, to the best of his power, all his fellow-creatures." In 
the course of his speeches the Prince made an earnest appeal 
for aid to the purposes of the institution with the result that 
^8000 was announced as the total donation of the evening — 
including the usual one hundred guineas from the chairman. 
The next important event in his public life was the visit of 



THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 167 

the Prince to India in 1875-6. On his return the Royal 
traveller received many demonstrations of popular esteem and 
the City of London entertained him at a great banquet and 
ball and an address of welcome, in a golden casket of Indian 
design, was presented. During the remainder of the year the 
Prince took a much-needed rest and interested himself largely 
in matters local to his own county of Norfolk. He took in 
hand the necessity existing at Norwich for a new Hospital and 
a large sum of money was soon subscribed for this purpose. 
Later in the year he visited Glasgow and laid the foundation 
of a new Post Office in that city. In the spring of 1877 what 
may be termed the moral courage of the Prince was put to a 
test in his invitation to preside at the annual banquet of the 
Licensed Victuallers' Asylum. There were many protests made 
and at least two hundred petitions presented urging His Royal 
Highness not to patronize or help the liquor interest. He 
decided, however, that the charity was a useful one and the 
widows and orphans of licensed victuallers as deserving of 
succour as those of other classes in the community, and that he 
could quite well afford to patronize an institution in succession 
to his own father, the late Prince Consort. Earl Granville was 
present, three Bishops and many members of the Houses of 
Lords and Commons and the proceeds of the occasion were 
over ^5000. In one of his speeches the Royal chairman 
referred to the petitions received from Temperance Societies 
and remarked : " I think this time they rather overstep the 
mark because the object of the meeting to-night is not to 
encourage the love of drink but to support a good and excel- 
lent charity." 

Early in 1878 the Prince unveiled at Cambridge (on Jan- 
uary 22nd) a statue of his late father, who for years had been 
Chancellor of the University. On June 28th, together with 
the Princess of Wales, he visited the Infant Orphan Asylum 
at Wanstead and presided at the luncheon which followed and 



168 THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 

at which were Her Royal Highness, the Duke and Duchess 
of Manchester, the Bishop of St. Albans and Mrs. Claughton, 
and a large gathering. In his speech the Royal chairman 
reviewed the history of the institution and afterwards gave 
one hundred guineas to its funds. As a result of his interest 
in naval matters the Prince had already placed his sons on the 
training ship Britannia and, on July 24th of this year, he and 
the Princess consented to distribute the annual prizes and 
medals. An address was presented from the City of Dart- 
mouth, on board the Royal yacht Osborne, which had been 
accompanied into the estuary of the River Dart by a large 
number of war-ships, yachts, steam-launches and boats. Flags 
were flying everywhere on sea and shore and in the evening 
the illuminations were striking. At the Britannia the Royal 
visitors were received by Mr. W. H. Smith M. P. First Lord 
of the Admiralty and a distinguished gathering amongst whom 
were Lord and Lady Charles Beresford and Sir Samuel and 
Lady Baker. In his speech the Prince referred to the personal 
expression of confidence in the institution by the Princess and 
himself in sending their two sons to be trained there and 
expressed the hope that the latter might do credit to the ship 
and to their country. A visit to Dartmouth followed and then 
Prince Edward and Prince George were taken home for their 
holidays. 

THE DEATH OF PRINCESS ALICE 

During this year the Heir Apparent had the misfortune 
to lose his much-loved sister the Princess Alice, Grand 
Duchess of Hesse, to whose careful nursing he had owed so 
much in his own serious illness and the sad features of whose 
death — as a result of nursing- her children through an attack of 
malignant diphtheria — had proved such a shock to the British 
public. The Prince and Princess spent some months in retire- 
ment after this occurrence and had also to mourn the death of 
the gallant young Prince Imperial of France, in whose career 



THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 169 

they had taken a deep personal interest — not only on account 
of his loveable qualities, but because of the long friendship 
between the Royal house of England and the widowed 
Empress Eugenie, to whose lonely hopes and pride the loss 
was so terrible. The Prince of Wales helped the stricken lady 
in the details of the funeral, acted as the principal pall-bearer 
and showed his sympathy in many ways, of which the wreath 
of violets sent from Marlborough, with the following inscrip- 
tion, was an incident : " A token of affection and regard for 
him who lived the most spotless of lives and died a soldier's 
death fighting for our cause in Zululand. From Albert Edward 
and Alexandra, July 12, 1879." His Royal Highness strongly 
supported the proposal to erect a Memorial in Westminster 
Abbey, but even his great influence could not overcome the 
international prejudices which the suggestion aroused and he 
had to wait till January, 1883, when the " United Service 
Memorial " was erected at Woolwich, and, accompanied by his 
two sons and the Dukes of Edinburgh and Cambridge, he was 
able to unveil the statue and fittingly eulogize the Royal 
French youth who had fought and died for the country which 
had been so kind to his parents. 

On May 5th, 1879, tne Prince of Wales presided at the 
annual banquet of the Cabdrivers' Benevolent Association. 
On May 23, 1880, he presided at a dinner in aid of the funds 
of the Princess Helena College and the result of his patronage 
and the careful speech delivered was a total donation of ^2000, 
to which he contributed his customary one hundred guineas. 
On June 17th of the same year he visited the new Breakwater 
and Harbour at Holyhead and, during the visit, there were 
loyal demonstrations on sea and land and a banquet attended 
by gentlemen representing most of the leading English and 
Irish railway companies. During the same month the King 
of Greece visited England and the Prince had an opportunity of 
returning some of the many hospitalities which he had received 



i 7 o THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 

from His Majesty and of presenting him to the Corporation of 
London at a great banquet of welcome. As Duke of Corn- 
wall he also laid the first stone of Truro Cathedral in this 
month. Writing of this and other functions on June 18th the 
Times declared that the representative duties of British royalty 
were heavier than the private functions of the hardest-worked 
Englishman. " In these scenes and a hundred like them a 
Prince's function cannot be discharged satisfactorily unless he 
be at once an impersonation of Royal state and, what is harder 
still, his own individual self. He must act his public charac- 
ter as if he enjoyed the festival as much as any of the specta- 
tors. He must be able to stamp a national impress upon the 
solemnity yet mark its local and particular significance." 

DISTRIBUTES PRIZES, PRESENTS AND COLOURS 

New colours were presented to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers 
by the Prince as they were embarking from Portsmouth for 
India, on August 16th. On May 24th, 1881, he presided at 
the festival dinner of the Royal Hospital for Women and 
Children in London, contributed one hundred guineas to its 
funds and was able to announce donations totalling ^2000. 
At King's College, London, on July 2nd, His Royal High- 
ness, accompanied by the Princess, distributed the annual 
prizes and pointed out the history and merits of the institution. 
On July 1 8th the Prince, accompanied by the Princess of 
Wales, laid the foundation of a City and Guilds of London 
Institute, established for the technical training of artisans, and 
delivered a speech of considerable range and length. He also 
accepted the Presidency of the Institute. The seventh annual 
meeting of the International Medical Congress was formally 
opened by the Prince, accompanied by the Crown Prince 
Frederick of Prussia, on August 3rd. He was received by a 
Committee composed of distinguished medical men such as 
Sir W. Jenner, Sir William Gull, Sir James Paget and Sir J. 



THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 171 

R. Bennett and, during the ceremony, spoke upon the progress 
made in late years by medical science. 

The death of Dean Stanley on July 18th of this year was 
felt as a personal and severe loss by both the Prince and 
Princess. The former had no warmer or wiser friend ; the 
latter no greater admirer in the highest sense of the word. It 
was fitting, therefore, that His Royal Highness should take 
the lead in raising a suitable Memorial to the distinguished 
Churchman and he attended and spoke earnestly at a meeting 
called in the Chapter-house of Westminster Abbey, for that pur- 
pose, on December 13th. Dean Bradley presided and there 
were also present Archbishop Tait of Canterbury, the Marquess 
of Salisbury, Earl Granville, the Duke of Westminster, the 
Marquess of Lome, Mr. J. Russell Lowell, the American Min- 
ister, Lord Chief Justice Coleridge and others. In his speech 
the Prince spoke of his intimate friendship with Dean Stanley 
over a period of twenty-two years, of their association in the 
East and of the great charm of his companionship. " As the 
Churchman, as the scholar, as the man of letters, as the philan- 
thropist and, above all, as the true friend, his name must 
always go down to posterity as a great and good man and as 
one who will make his mark on a chapter of his country's 
history." 

During the next few years the public events of the Prince's 
career continued along very much the same lines, varied by 
some rapid trip to the continent, or visit to the country home 
of some noble friend, or a shooting excursion to some place 
where game was plentiful and companions congenial. The 
central events, aside from his promotion of the Fisheries and 
other Exhibitions, were the visit to Ireland in 1885, the support 
given to an Empire policy by his patronage of the Imperial 
Institute and similar concerns, his active connection with the 
Masonic Order and his conduct of the Jubilee of 1887. The 
International Fisheries Exhibition grew out of a comparatively 



1 72 THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 

small affair at Norwich in which the Prince of Wales had taken 
an active interest. In July 1881, as a result of his initiative, a 
meeting was held in London, a committee was formed and the 
preliminary work done. In February 1882 a second meeting 
occured and further organization was effected with the Queen 
as Patron, His Royal Highness as President and the Duke of, 
Richmond as Chairman of the General Committee. The 
Exhibition was finally opened on May 13, 1883, by tne Prince 
of Wales, who had around him most of the members of 
the Royal family, the Foreign Ambassadors, Her Majesty's 
Ministers and other distinguished persons. His address 
defined the reasons for the enterprise in a sentence : " In view 
of the rapid increase of the population in all civilized countries, 
and especially in these sea-girt kingdoms, a profound interest 
attaches to every industry which affects the supply of food ; 
and in this respect the harvest of the sea is hardly less impor- 
tant than that of the land." In results he thought the Exhibi- 
tion should enable practical fishermen to acquaint themselves 
with the latest improvements in both their working craft and 
life-saving systems. It was a great success. The total visitors 
numbered 2,703,051 and there was a financial surplus of 
^ I 5> 2 43- Of this, two-thirds was put aside to assist the fam- 
ilies of fishermen who had lost their lives at sea, and ^"3000 
was used to organize a Fisheries Society in order to keep up 
the interest in the subject and encourage the study of ways 
and means to help the fishermen. 

THE PRINCE ENCOURAGES EXHIBITIONS 

In replying to an address from the Executive Committee 
at the closing of the Exhibition, on October 31st, the Prince 
had suggested that other Exhibitions might very well be held 
dealing with the three great subjects of Health, Inventions 
and the Colonies. The first subject dealt with was that of 
Health. Owing to the death of his brother, the Duke of 



THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 173 

Albany, on March 28th, 1884, the Prince could not do much 
more than initiate the project but it was carried on by the 
Duke of Buckingham as Chairman of the Committee. Its 
active progress was marked by the inauguration of the work 
of the International Juries by the Prince of Wales on June 
17th. Like the Fisheries and the " Colinderies " which fol- 
lowed it in 1886, the " Healtheries" proved ultimately a great 
success. Meanwhile, minor incidents were occuring. On 
March 1st, 1882, as Colonel of the Corps, the Prince presided 
over the 2 1st anniversary dinner of the Civil Service Volunteers 
and spoke at some length upon the importance of the Volun- 
teer force. Others present on the occasion were the Dukes of 
Manchester and Portland, Viscount Bury, Lord Elcho and 
Colonel Lloyd-Lindsay. On March 10th, 1883, the Duke of 
Cambridge, Commander-in-Chief, called a meeting in London 
to consider what could be done with the neglected British 
graves in the Crimea and the Prince of Wales, who had felt 
the matter keenly during his visit of years before, moved a 
Resolution declaring that immediate steps should be taken in the 
matter. He spoke with earnestness, contributed ^50 toward 
the project and was supported by General Sir W. Codrington, 
Admiral Sir H. Keppel, General Sir L. A. Simmons and Lord 
Wolseley. 

The new City School of London, on the Thames Embank- 
ment, was opened by His Royal Highness on December 12th, 
1882, accompanied by the Princess of Wales. On May 21st 
1883 crowded memories of his Indian tour were revived by the 
opening of the Northbrook Club for the use of Native gentle- 
men from the East Indies. In his speech the Prince referred 
with gratitude to his "magnificent reception" in India and 
expressed his strong approval of the establishment of a place 
where natives of that Empire could meet together for purposes 
of relaxation and intercourse. The City of London College, 
intended chiefly for young men who could only attend evening 



i74 THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 

classes, was inaugurated on July 8th of this year. The Princess 
was also present. In the House of Lords on February 22nd, 
1884, the Prince made one of his very few speeches in that 
Chamber — although a frequent attendant at its sessions. It 
was in connection with a motion presented by Lord Salisbury 
for the appointment of a Royal Commission to inquire into 
the housing of the working classes. His Royal Highness 
declared that a searching inquiry was very necessary, expressed 
his pleasure at having been named a member of the Commis- 
sion, referred to his own experiments at Sandringham, and 
expressed the hope that measures of a drastic and" thorough 
kind would result. Three days later, accompanied by the 
Princess, their three daughters, and Her Royal Highness the 
Marchioness of Lome, the Prince of Wales visited the Guards' 
Industrial Home at Chelsea Barracks and distributed the annual 
prizes. 

On March 15th, not for the first time, he presided at the 
annual meeting of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution 
and spoke strongly of its valuable and important work. Other 
speakers were the Dukes of Argyll and Northumberland. 
Admiral Keppel and Lord C. Beresford. The Guilds of 
London Institute was opened on June 25th and the speech 
made by the Prince was more elaborate than usual. He was 
well supported by Lord Carlingford and Mr. A. J. Mundella, 
M.P. An important and interesting incident of this year was 
the action of the Prince of Wales in presiding over a densely- 
crowded meeting in the Guild Hall, London, called to cele- 
brate the Jubilee of the abolition of slavery in British countries 
and to consider the past and present work of the Anti-Slavery 
Society. On the platform were many distinguished men in 
every sphere of the national life and the speech of His Royal 
Highness was probably the longest he had ever delivered. It 
was a succinct history of the abolition of slavery in various 
countries and colonies and contained many expressions of 



THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 175 

warm approval toward those who had worked to that end — 
the extension of " the sacred principle of freedom." Sir 
Stafford Northcote, Archbishop Benson of Canterbury, Mr. 
W. E. Forster, M.P., Cardinal Manning and others spoke, 
and it was afterwards announced by the Lord Mayor that the 
Prince had consented to become Patron of the British and 
Foreign Anti-Slavery Society. 

The unveiline of the statue of Charles Darwin in the 
Museum of Natural History on June 9th, 1885, evoked a brief 
speech and a reference to " the great Englishman who had 
exerted so vast an influence upon the progress of branches of 
natural knowledge." On July 4th the Prince and Princess 
attended the opening of the new building of the Birkbeck 
Institution in London and the former spoke upon its objects 
and character. On July 5th of the previous year he presided 
at the annual dinner in aid of the Railway Guards' Friendly 
Society and referred in his speech to its nature and valuable 
work. More than ^3300 was subscribed, to which the Royal 
chairman gave his usual contribution. The Convalescent 
Home at Swanleywas opened on July 13th 1885 and the Prince 
was accompanied by his wife and daughters. A visit was paid 
two days later to Leeds and the Prince and Princess stayed at 
Studley, the seat of the Marquess of Ripon. Various addresses 
were received at the Town Hall and from thence the Royal 
visitors went to the Yorkshire College, which the Prince duly 
inaugurated amid much state. At the succeeding luncheon he 
spoke of the great importance of the industrial educational 
work which this institution was carrying on. " I have for a 
long time been deeply impressed with the advisability of 
establishing in our great centres of population, colleges and 
schools, not only for promoting the intellectual advancement of 
the people, but also for increasing their prosperity by further- 
ing the application of scientific knowledge to the industrial 
arts." 



176 THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORM 

The sad news of the gallant death of General Gordon 
affected the Prince of Wales as only the loss of a friend 
who is greatly and personally admired can do. He took 
much interest in the Committee which was formed to promote 
a Memorial and finally summoned a special meeting at Marl- 
borough House, on January 12th, 1886, to promote the collec- 
tion of a fund looking to the permanent establishment of a« 
Gordon Boys' Home. Speeches were made by General 
Higginson, the Duke of Cambridge and Lord Napier of Mag- 
dala, and ultimately the enterprise was fairly placed upon its 
feet. A little later, with Prince Albert Victor and Prince 
George, His Royal Highness went to stay with the Duke of 
Westminster at Eaton Hall, From thence, on January 20th, 
they visited Liverpool and the Mersey Tunnel was formally 
inaugurated after a drive through the city and the reception of 
the usual addresses and popular welcome. A banquet was 
also received and several speeches made by the Prince. The 
Institution of Civil Engineers entertained the Prince of Wales 
at dinner on March 27th and the Royal guest was accom- 
panied by his eldest son and the Duke of Cambridge. Sir 
Frederick Bramwell presided. On June 28th, following, he laid 
the foundation-stone of the Peoples' Palace amidst evidences 
of unbounded personal popularity in the East End of London ; 
with ten thousand people around him — including one thousand 
delegates from the various Trade, Friendly and Temperance 
Societies in East London ; and with representative persons in 
attendance such as Dr. Adler, the Chief Rabbi, Cardinal 
Manning, Archbishop Benson and Mr. Walter Besant. 

As a result of his deep and practical interest in agricultural 
matters the Prince of Wales held a sale of Shorthorn cattle 
and Southdown sheep at Norwich on July 15th of this year 
The sale was a most interesting and successful event from a 
technical as well as general standpoint and fully proved the 
right of the Royal owner of Sandringham to be called a 



THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 177 

farmer and to act as President of the Royal Agricultural 
Society of England. A luncheon given to the agricultural 
celebrities of England followed the sale. On March 12th, 
1887, the Prince presided at the Jubilee banquet of the London 
Orphan Asylum and defined its objects and work while urging 
more financial assistance to its projects. Amongt those 
present were the Duke of Abercorn, the Earl of Clarendon, 
General Sir Donald Stewart and Sir Dighton Probyn. The 
subscriptions announced during the evening were ^5000, 
including one hundred guineas from the Prince. 

On March 30th he opened the new College of Preceptors 
in London, accompanied by the Princess of Wales and the 
Princesses Victoria and Maud. The opening of the Man- 
chester Exhibition followed on May 3rd and the Prince and 
Princesses came to the city from Tatton Hall, where they had 
been staying with Lord Egerton. The usual hearty welcome 
was given along the crowded route. On May 22nd the Lon- 
don Hospital's new buildings were inaugurated, the Prince 
being accompanied by his wife and two daughters and the 
Crown Prince of Denmark. Six days later Tottenham was 
visited and the new portion of the Deaconesses Institution 
and Hospital opened. The Shaftesbury House, or home for 
shelterless boys, was inaugurated on June 17th and on Novem- 
ber 3rd His Royal Highness visited Truro, accompanied by 
the Princess and his two sons, attended the consecration of 
the new Cathedral by the Primate of England and spoke after- 
wards at a luncheon given by the principal residents of the 
Duchy of Cornwall. On the following day he presented new 
colours to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry at Devon- 
port. 

On May the 8th, 1888, the Prince and Princess of Wales 
opened the Glasgow Exhibition and the former spoke interest- 
ingly of the industrial development of the time. The states- 
man whose advice and knowledge had been so greatly 



I7 8 THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 

appreciated by the Prince during his Indian tour was fittingly 
comemorated by the statue on the Thames Embankment 
which His Royal Highness unveiled on June 5th following. 
Sir Bartle Frere was described in the speech accompanying the 
act as " a great and valued public servant of the Crown and a 
highly esteemed and dear friend of myself." On July 6th a 
new Gymnasium for the Young Men's Christian Association 
was opened in London ; on May 9th the Prince and Princess 
visited Blackburn and were enthusiastically received ; on May 
14th His Royal Highness, accompanied by his wife and 
daughters, Prince Charles of Denmark and Prince George of 
Greece, opened the Anglo-Danish Exhibition at South Ken- 
sington ; on July 17th he inaugurated the new buildings of the 
Great Northern Hospital at Islington and in the autumn of 
the year paid a visit to Austria and some of the countries in 
Southern Europe. 

The purely public events of following years may be briefly 
and partially summarized. In June, 1889, the Prince and 
Princess of Wales visited the Paris Exhibition in a semi- 
private capacity, and were present at Athens, on October 27th, 
at the wedding of the Duke of Sparta and Princess Sophia of 
Germany. The great Forth Bridge was opened by the Prince 
in March, 1890, and a short time spent with Lord Rosebery at 
Dalmeny ; a visit was paid to Berlin, accompanied by Prince 
George, on March 21st ; a statue of the Duke of Albany was 
unveiled at Cannes on April 6th ; a new nave in the ancient 
Church of St. Saviour, South wark, was inaugurated on July 
24th; the new Town Hall at Portsmouth was opened on 
August 9th ; the City of London Electric Railway was inaug- 
urated on November 4th. On November 9th, 1891, the 
theatrical managers of London presented His Royal High- 
ness with a large gold cigar-box in honour of his fiftieth birth- 
day. In 1892 the Prince visited the Royal Agricultural Society 
at Warwick with the Duke of York, laid the foundation- 



THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 179 

stone of the Clarence Memorial addition to St. Mary's Hos- 
pital, Paddington, and supervised the re-building of Sand- 
ringham after the fire which had consumed a portion of it. 
One of the events of 1894 was a visit to Coburg in April and 
attendance at the marriage of his niece and nephew, the 
Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg and the Grand Duke of 
Hesse. Another was the opening of the Tower Bridge, Lon- 
don, in June, by the Prince and Princess on behalf of the 
Queen. 

On May 16, 1895, the Prince of Wales reviewed the 
Warwickshire Yeomanry; on July 8th he laid the foundation- 
stone of new buildings at the Epsom Medical College ; in 
July he reviewed Italian and British fleets off Portsmouth ; on 
July 22nd he opened the new building of the Royal Free 
Hospital, Grey's Inn Road, London ; in November he pre- 
sided at a lecture in the Imperial Institute. In 1896 he was 
formally installed as Chancellor of the University of Wales, 
and stayed at Balmoral in September during the visit of the 
Emperor and Empress of Russia to the Queen. In January, 
1897, the Prince visited the Duke of Sutherland at Trentham 
Hall ; on May 22nd he opened the Blackwell Tunnel ; in June 
he participated in all the Jubilee functions, was created 
Grand Master of the Order of the Bath and gave a 
banquet, in honour of the appointment, to all living Knights 
Grand Cross of the Order, which was a unique gathering of 
men distinguished in diplomacy, statesmanship, in the Army 
and Navy, and in Imperial and civil administration. During 
the following year he distributed prizes in June at Wellington 
College and laid the foundation-stone of new buildings at Uni- 
versity College Hospital ; on December 23rd he attended the 
opening service of a restored church at Sherbourne. On 
June 19, 1899, His Royal Highness held a Levee at St. James's 
Palace ; on July 6th he received the freedom of the City of 



180 THIRTY YEARS OF PUBLIC WORK 

Edinburgh ; and on September 18th he presented new colours 
to the Gordon Highlanders. 

Such was the general character and scope of the Prince's 
public life. There would have been little object served in 
elaborating the description of these ceremonial events. They 
are of value and necessary to a clear comprehension of the 
position and manifold duties of the Prince of Wales, and quite 
enough have been given for this purpose. During all these 
thirty years the work of the Heir Apparent increased in its 
importance and multifarious character until every interest and 
element in the population found a place in its performance. It 
was arduous and unceasing, but the Prince never showed 
weariness and always appeared with the same unaffected boti- 
homie and natural dignity whatever the extent of his work or 
the character of the function. The end of it all was a popu- 
larity as unique as it was thoroughly and well deserved. 




H. M. THE QUEEN WITH HER DAUGHTERS AND 
GRANDCHILD 




H. M. THE KING, PAST GRAND MASTER, AND THE DUKE OF 
CONNAUGHT AS NEW GRAND MASTER OF MASONS 



CHAPTER X. 

Special Functions and Interests. 

THE Prince of Wales' connection with the Masonic Order 
was an early one and had always been a close and sin- 
cerely interested one. He was first initiated in 1868 
by the late King of Sweden when staying at Stockholm. He 
served several terms as Worshipful Master of the Royal Alpha 
Lodge, which consisted of a number of Grand Officers, generally 
noblemen, and in this lodge he personally initiated his eldest 
son, the late Duke of Clarence and Avondale, in 1885. He 
was also permanent Master of the Prince of Wales Lodge, to 
which he initiated the Duke of Connaught in 1874. When 
the Marquess of Ripon retired from the Grand Mastership of 
English Freemasons in 1875 the Prince of Wales accepted the 
post and was installed on April 28th at the Royal Albert Hall. 
The function was perhaps the most memorable and imposing 
in the British history of the Order. In the vast Hall there 
were more than ten thousand members of the craft, of all ranks 
and degrees, and in costume suited to their Masonic conditions. 
Many distinguished visitors and deputations from foreign 
lodges were present in the reserved inclosure. The Earl of 
Carnarvon performed the initial ceremonies and in the address 
to His Royal Highness referred to the gathering around them : 
" I may truly say that never in the whole history of Free- 
masonry has such a Grand Lodge been convened as that on 
which my eye rests at this moment and there is, further, an 
inner view to be taken, that so far as my eyes can carry me 
over these serried ranks of white and blue, and gold and purple, 

181 



1 82 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS AND INTERESTS 

I recognize in them men who have solemnly taken obligations 
of worth and morality— men who have undertaken the duties 
of citizens and the loyalty of subjects." 

THE PRINCE'S ADDRESS AS MASONIC GRAND MASTER 

In his reply the Prince expressed an "ardent and sincere 
wish" to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and the 
belief that, so long as Freemasons did not mix themselves up 
in politics, "this high and noble Order will flourish and will 
maintain the integrity of our great Empire." After deputa- 
tions had been received from the Grand Lodges of Scotland, 
Ireland, Sweden and Denmark the new Grand Master appointed 
Lord Carnarvon to be Pro-Grand-Master, Lord Skelmersdale 
to be Deputy Grand Master and the Marquess of Hamilton 
and the Lord Mayor of London to two other chief offices. In 
the evening a grand banquet was held at which he presided 
and made several tactful speeches. The Duke of Connaught, 
the Duke of Manchester, the late Earl of Rosslyn and the 
representatives of various Grand Lodges also spoke. On July 
ist, 1886, His Royal Highness was installed as Grand Master 
of the Mark Master Masons in the presence of more than one 
thousand Grand, Past and Provincial Officers from India and 
the Colonies as well as from the United Kingdom. The Earl 
of Kintore presided in the early stages of the function and was 
afterwards appointed Pro-Grand Master, with Lord Egerton 
of Tatton as Deputy Grand Master and the Duke of Con- 
naucdit as Senior Grand Warden. 

During the Queen's Jubilee, on June 13th, 1887, it was 
decided to present an address to Her Majesty as Patron of the 
Order and of various Masonic charities. The formal action 
was taken at an immense gathering in the Royal Albert Hall, 
on the date mentioned, when some seven thousand officers and 
members, representatives of the Lodges of the Empire met 
and passed a Resolution to that effect. His Royal Highness 



SPECIAL FUNCTIONS AND INTERESTS 183 

the Grand Master, who was accompanied by Prince Albert 
Victor and the Duke of Connaught, presided and was able to 
announce, after this part of the business had been disposed of 
and the National Anthem sung with enthusiasm, that ^"6000 
had that day been paid in by members and was to be entirely 
devoted to Masonic charities for the children and the ap-ed. 
Two years later, on July 6, 1888, and in the same place, the 
Prince of Wales presided over the centennial banquet of the 
Royal Masonic Institute for Girls. With him were the King 
of Sweden and Norway, Prince Albert Victor, the Earls of 
Carnarvon, Lathom and Zetland, Lord Egerton of Tatton, 
Lord Leigh and many other eminent Masons. One of the 
speeches of the Chairman was devoted to a history of the 
institution they were trying to help and to a request for funds 
to erect additional buildings and better accommodations. The 
response afterwards announced to the appeal, made before and 
at this dinner, was ^50,472 of which London contributed 
^22,454 and the Provinces, India and the Colonies the balance. 

THE PATRON OF ART 

Another subject in which the Prince always took a great 
and active interest was that of Art — especially as embodied in 
the work of the Royal Academy. His first appearance in this 
connection was at the annual banquet on May 4th, 1863, an( J 
it has been noted that at the various subsequent occasions of 
this kind at which he spoke, despite the sameness of the toasts 
and subjects, there was always fresh material in his remarks. 
At the banquet on May 5th, 1866, Sir Francis Grant presided 
for the first time as President and amongst the speakers besides 
His Royal Highness were his brother Prince Alfred, the Duke 
of Cambridge, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Earl Russell and 
'the Earl of Derby. In 1867 and in 1870 he also spoke and 
on the latter occasion the speakers included Mr. J. Lothrop 



1 84 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS AND INTERESTS 

Motley, the American Minister, and Charles Dickens. At the 
banquet in 1871 the Prince spoke and at that of 1874. ne drew 
special attention to the picture, "Calling the Roll," which after- 
wards made Miss Elizabeth Thompson so famous, and to a 
statue by J. E. Boehm which was the beginning of that 
sculptor's rise to distinction. 

The Prince of Wales was again present in May, 1875 ar, d 
then, owing to other pressing engagements, missed four years. 
At the annual banquet on May 3rd, 1879, which he attended, 
Sir Frederick Leighton was President of the Academy and the 
Prince made kindly allusion to the memory of his late prede- 
cessor. Amongst the other speakers were Lord Beaconsfield, 
Mr. W. H. Smith and Lord Chief Justice Cockburn. At the 
banquet in 1880, Sir F. Leighton paid his Royal guest an 
unusual compliment : " Sir, of the graces by which Your Royal 
Highness has won and firmly retains the affectionate attach- 
ment of Englishmen none has operated more strongly than the 
width of your sympathies ; for there is no honourable sphere 
in which Englishmen move, no path of life in which they 
tread, wherein Your Royal Highness has not, at some time, 
by graceful word or deed, evinced an enlightened interest." 
In 1 881, the central subject of toast and speeeh was Sir Fred- 
erick Roberts, who had come fresh from the fields of Cabul and 
Candahar ; but the Prince of Wales did not forget an illusion to 
the death of " that great statesman " the Earl of Beaconsfield. 
In 1885 His Royal Highness was accompanied for the first 
time by Prince Albert Victor and in 1888 he was able to refer 
to the fact of this occasion being not only the year of his silver 
wedding but the year which marked a quarter of a century 
since his first appearance amongst them. 

The Corporation of Trinity House, which in the time of 
Henry VIII. had been a guild for the encouragement of the 
art and science of navigation and had latterly come into the 
work of building lighthouses and protecting ships along the 



SPECIAL FUNCTIONS AND INTERESTS 185 

coasts of England, was always an object of interest and support 
to the Prince of Wales. In 1865 he declined the post of 
Master — which had been held by men like Lord Liverpool, the 
Duke of Wellington, the Prince Consort and Lord Palmerston 
— in favour of his brother the Sailor Prince. He attended 
the next annual banquet, however, together with the King of 
the Belgians, and two years later was installed as one of the 
" Younger Brethren " of Trinity House. The Duke of Rich- 
mond and Lord Napier of Magdala were amongst the other 
speakers. The banquet of July 4th, 1869 was especially inter- 
esting from the eminent men of all parties whom it brought 
together. The Prince of Wales presided, in the absence of 
the Duke of Edinburgh, and the speakers included Mr. Glad- 
stone, Mr. Bright, Mr. Disraeli, Sir Stafford Northcote and 
Sir John Burgoyne. He again attended and addressed the 
banquet of Trinity House on June 24, 187 1. and presided at 
that of June 27, 1874. His speech upon the latter occasion 
contained various important facts and opinions upon the 
improvement of navigation facilities. At the dinner in 1877 
the Prince again presided and in the proposing his health the 
late Earl of Derby said : "His Royal Highness has not only 
now, but for many years past done all that is in the power of 
man to do, by genial courtesies towards men of every class and 
by his indefatigable assiduity in the performance of every social 
duty, to secure at once that public respect which is due to his 
exalted position and that social sympathy and personal popu- 
larity which no position, however exalted, can of itself be suf- 
ficient to secure." The most interesting event of this occasion 
was the presence and very brief soldierly speech of General 
U. S. Grant. 

The encouragement of Musical education and the promo- 
tion of a public taste for music was one of the subjects in 
which the Prince of Wales took a deep and practical interest. 
He believed in the humanizing and civilizing effects of music 



1 86 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS AND INTERESTS 

and felt that amongst a people who had made a home for 
Handel and who had. in older days loved glees and madrigals 
and choral compositions there was room, in a more hum-drum 
age, for the encouragement of popular taste in this direction. 
The Royal Academy of Music, founded in 1822, had done 
some good but limited service and, in 1875, ne placed himself 
at the head of a movement to further the love and practice of 
music amongst the people. A meeting was held at Malborough 
House on June 15th for the immediate purpose of establishing 
free scholarships in connection with the proposed National 
Training Schools for Music, near the Royal Albert Hall, and 
there were present the Duke of Endinburgh, Prince Christian, 
the Duke of Teck, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, 
the Lord Mayor of London and many Provincial Mayors, and a 
numerous company distinguished by public reputation or 
position. The result of this action was most successful, and in 
1878, the Prince endeavoured to complete it by bringing the 
Academy and the Training Schools into union. 

ENCOURAGES MUSICAL EDUCATION 

Failing in this, however, he presided on February 28th 
1882 at a meeting in St. James's Palace held for the purpose of 
founding a " Royal College of Music" and attended by one of 
the most representative gatherings which His Royal Highness 
had ever brought together. His speech was an able and elabo- 
rate statement of the importance of a national cultivation of 
music and the necessity for its promotion in the United King- 
dom. " Why is it," he asked, " that England has no music 
recognized as national ? It has able composers but nothing 
indicative of the national life or national feeling. The reason 
is not far to seek. There is no centre of music to which 
English musicians may resort with confidence and thence derive 
instruction, counsel and inspiration." The plan was then clearly 
outlined and enthusiastically accepted — Lord Rosebery, Mr. 



SPECIAL FUNCTIONS AND INTERESTS 187 

Gladstone and Sir Stafford Northcote being amongst those 
who spoke and supported the project presented by the Royal 
chairman. A little later, on March 23rd, the Prince invited a 
number of gentlemen connected with the Colonial part of the 
Empire to meet him at Marlborough House in order to discuss 
how best the benefits of the College might be extended and 
applied to the more distant British countries. 

On May 7th, 1883, tne Royal College of Music was formally 
inaugurated after an effort amongst its supporters which had 
included the holding of forty-four public meetings throughout 
the country. With the Prince of Wales were present the 
Princess, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess 
Christian and the Trustees, amongst whom were the Duke of 
Westminster, Sir Richard Wallace, M. P., Sir George Grove 
and Sir John Rose. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr. 
Gladstone and many others were also present. The Royal 
founder of the institution spoke at unusual length, referred to 
the teaching and examining powers of the College, asked for 
aid in establishing scholarships and extending its usefulness 
and dilated upon the importance of the objects aimed at. " I 
trust that the College will become the recognized centre and 
head of the musical world in this country. Music is, in the 
best sense, the most popular of all arts. If that government 
be the best which provides for the happiness of the greatest 
number, that art must be the best which at the least expense 
pleases the greatest number." The project proved most suc- 
cessful and the Royal College of Music became one of the 
recognized institutions of the Empire. 

VISIT TO IRELAND IN 1 885 

The Royal visit to Ireland in 1885 was an important inci- 
dent in the public life of the Prince of Wales. It was seven- 
teen years since he and the Princess had visited that much- 
troubled country and many untoward events had occurred 



1 88 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS AND INTERESTS 

since then. The proposal for another visit was not popular 
with a section of the Irish press and politicians, but when it 
was evident that the generous instincts of the Irish people 
were going to make the occasion a demonstration of kindly 
feeling, if not of loyalty after the English fashion, they changed 
their attitude and recommended a "dignified neutrality." Even. 
this advice was very largely, however, lost sight of in the 
eventual result. On April 9th the Royal couple, accompanied 
by Prince Albert Victor, arrived at Kingstown amid the usual 
decorations and crowds and accepted an address of welcome. 
In Dublin the address was presented by the City Reception 
Committee instead of by the Lord Mayor and Corporation. 
An important clause in this document to which the Prince 
made no reference in his cautious reply was as follows : "We 
venture to assure you that it would be a great gratification to 
Her Majesty's loyal subjects in Ireland if a permanent Royal 
residence should be established in our country." A visit was 
paid at the conclusion of these proceedings to the Royal 
Dublin Society and the Agricultural Show. 

Later in the day the Prince, attended only by his eldest 
son and without notice of his intention, visited some of the 
poorest parts of the city and saw for himself the condition of 
the people. It soon became known, however, that he was 
amongst them and hearty cheers were given him wherever the 
people caught a glimpse of their visitor. On the following 
day thirty different addresses were received from various public 
bodies and in replying to them the Prince said: "In varied 
capacities and by widely different paths you pursue those great 
objects which, dear to you, are, believe me, dear also to me — 
the prosperity and progress of Ireland, the welfare and happi- 
ness of her people. From my heart I wish you success and I 
would that time and my own powers would permit me to 
explain fully and in detail the deep interest which I feel not 
only in the welfare of this great Empire at large but in the 







vm ««.««* 




SPECIAL FUNCTIONS AND INTERESTS 189 

true happiness of those several classes of the community on 
whose behalf you have come here to-day." The next event 
was the laying of the foundation stone of the new Museum of 
Science and Art. The route was densely thronged, the houses 
beautifully decorated and the cheers of the people enthusiastic. 
An appropriate speech was made and then the Prince and his 
wife and son, accompanied by the Lord Lieutenant and 
Countess Spencer, drove to the Royal University where they 
were received by the Chancellor, the Duke of Abercorn, and 
the Honorary degree of LL. D. bestowed upon the Prince and 
that of Doctor of Music upon the Princess. 

Succeeding incidents of the visit were a bnlliant Levee at 
Dublin Castle ; a Drawing-room held by the Princess of Wales ; 
a state ball given by the Lord Lieutenant, which was a great 
success ; a visit to the Arlane Industrial School ; an enthusiastic 
reception at Trinity College from a great and representative 
gathering ; the presentation of new colours to the Cornwall 
Regiment, then stationed in Dublin, with a speech — as on most 
of the other occasions mentioned — from the Prince. On April 
13th the Prince and Princess started for Cork and on the 
way thither, at Mallow, there was some attempt at a hostile 
demonstration. An effort of the same kind was made at Cork 
but was nullified by the cordial hospitality of the masses of the 
people. The Royal visitors left Ireland on April 17th well 
satisfied with the general loyalty and courtesy of their reception. 

HIS PART IN THE QUEEN'S JUBILEE 

In two of the great events which characterized the closing 
years of the Victorian era and his Mother's reign the Prince 
of Wales took a prominent and most important part — the 
Queen's Jubilee of 1887 and the Diamond Jubilee of ten years 
later. Upon no other occasion has his actual executive ability 
been better tested than in the latter event. Few, perhaps, 
can adequately realize the immense amount of work which 



igo SPECIAL FUNCTIONS AND INTERESTS 

devolved upon, or was assumed by, the Prince in this connection. 
He undertook many of the functions ; he was present with the 
Queen at all the events of a busy, crowded week ; he directed 
most of the detail and guided the complicated etiquette and 
* procedure of the occasion ; he personally controlled the arrange- 
ments for the splendid procession through the streets of 
London ; he overlooked the plans for the service in the Abbey 
and for the protection of the massed multitude in the streets ; 
he received and entertained many of the Royal personages 
who came from abroad. In both of these great events the 
Prince of Wales appreciated the new and peculiar significance 
added to the formal or popular British celebrations by the 
presence of Colonial leaders and troops and visitors. He had, 
in fact, to stamp the Imperial character and standing of these 
great demonstrations. 



CHAPTER XL 

The Prince and His Family. 

THE home life of the Prince and Princess of Wales was 
never an absolutely private one. It was lived in the 
light of an almost ceaseless publicity. Not that the 
actual house of the Royal couple was, or could ever be, unduly 
invaded ; but that every visitor was a more or less interested 
spectator and student of conditions and that every trifling 
incident, as well as the more important matters, of every-day 
life were remembered, repeated, or recorded as they would 
never be in an ordinary household. 

HOME LIFE OF THE ROYAL COUPLE 

Memoirs of British statesmen, leaders in art, or literature, 
or religion, or the Army and the Navy, teem with references, 
during forty years, to the life of the Heir Apparent and his 
wife at Sandringham or Marlborough and, without exception, 
they convey the impression of honest domestic happiness and 
unity. Gossip during that long period there had been, of 
course ; unpleasant inuendoes had been uttered in a small and 
unpleasant section of the press ; peculiar and, for the most 
obvious reasons, impossible stories had been cabled from time 
to time across the Atlantic ; but they were patiently borne by 
those who were the easy victims of silly statements and they 
were more than controverted by the tributes published from 
men who have lived on^ terms of intimacy with the Royal 
family and whose death lifted, occasionally, the seal of secrecy 
from their natural reserve and made the expression of their 
opinions and experiences possible. 

191 



1 92 THE PRINCE AND HIS FAMILY 

The steady growth of the Prince and Princess in popular 
favour and the fact that even the most irresponsible or un- 
scrupulous purveyor of news to such sheets as Mr. Labou- 
chere's Truth had never dared to reflect upon the Princess of 
Wales' beauty of character and life sufficed long before the 
accession of His Royal Highness to the Throne to kill even "- 
the surreptitious stories which always float upon the surface 
of society regarding persons in Royal positions. In this con- 
nection may be quoted the interesting reference to the subject 
made by Mr. G. W. Smalley, the well-known American writer 
who for so many years acted as London correspondent of the 
New York Tribune. He was dealing, under date of January 
17th, 1892, with the premature death of the young Duke of 
Clarence and, after referring to the freshness of affection which 
prevailed throughout the Royal family, he proceeded in these 
words : " It is known to be strong and pure in all three gene- 
rations — indeed there are now four — which together make up 
the Royal family of England. * * * The domestic tradi- 
tions were followed just as faithfully at Marlborough House as 
at Windsor. The Prince of Wales's has been not merely a 
good but a devoted family. The Princess, whose whole life 
has been beautiful is in nothing more beautiful than in her 
love for her children. She passed from the bedside of her 
second son whose life she helped to save — they say that Prince 
George never rallied till his mother returned to nurse him — to 
the bedside of her first-born by whose grave she has now to 
stand." 

Sandrino-ham Hall in Norfolk was the real home of the 

o 

Royal couple and it was there that the children of their mar- 
riage spent much of their younger days and received much of 
the training which was to fit them for lives of more or less 
public duty and the responsibilities which go with public posi- 
tion. Marlborough House, in London, was the social centre, 
the official environment, the public residence, of the Prince 



THE PRINCE AND HIS FAMILY 193 

and Princess of Wales. But the former place was always the 
one where they liked to be, where the heart of the Princess 
always rested with most interest and affection, where the en- 
joyment of the comforts of country and home life came with 
most force to the Prince and to his children. Around Sand- 
ringham the grounds and woods and park were not allowed to 
be spoiled by art — the latter was used in just such a degree as 
would help nature. The house, or palace, was concealed from 
view until the visitor was quite close to it and its home-like 
simplicity has always been a much-described quality. There 
was no elaboration of decoration, or straining after an appear- 
ance of stately luxury. Comfort seemed to be the aim and it 
was most certainly attained. The hall was designed some- 
what after the style of the old-fashioned banquetting halls, the 
various rooms were arranged for convenience and comfort, the 
decorations were beautiful without being gorgeous, the objects 
of interest, ornament and curiosity in the drawing-rooms and 
elsewhere were, of course, simply countless. 

Above the porch in front of the Hall was the quaint 
legend : " This house was built by Albert Edward, Prince of 
Wales, and Alexandra his wife, in the year of our Lord 1870". 
The place was originally purchased for ^220,000 — saved from 
the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall by the Prince Consort's 
management — but further large sums had to be spent in order 
to make the mansion comfortable and the estate the model 
which it afterwards became. The former was practically rebuilt 
in 1870 but not until every cottage or farm-house on the prop- 
erty had been first rebuilt, or repaired. The house contained, 
particularly, the great hall or saloon decorated with trophies 
of the chase in all countries and with many caskets of gold 
and silver containing some of the addresses presented to the 
Prince from time to time ; the dining-room with its high oak 
roof and great fire-place, walls covered with tapestry given the 
Prince by the late King of Spain and a side-board covered 
13 



194 THE PRINCE AND HIS FAMILY 

with racing and yachting prizes in gold and silver ; the chief 
drawing room with hangings of dull gold silk, furniture bro- 
caded in soft red and gold, large panel mirrors and quantities 
of exquisite Sevres and Dresden china ; the conservatory 
where tea was often served ; a great ball-room and handsome 
billiard and smoking rooms. The boudoir of the Princess has 
been described as a dream of grace and simple beauty and 
everything about the place was arranged with a view to com- 
bining comfort with charm of appearance. The hundred ser- 
vants employed in or out of the house had everything that 
could make their lives pleasant and happy. 

EDUCATION OF THE ROYAL FAMILY 

Amidst these surroundings the sons and daughters of the 
Royal couple were brought up. Upon the education of the 
boys the Prince of Wales utilized his own knowledge of life 
as well as the traditions of his father's training of himself. He 
is said to have believed that the study of men and the ways of 
the world had not been sufficiently considered in his own case 
and that he wished his sons, while escaping the nervousness, 
constraints and adulation which surrounded the Court, should 
also avoid the sycophancy and flattery which might be 
expected in their cases at a public school — even of the highest. 
He therefore decided that a training ship in early youth and 
the fresh air, vigorous life and wholesome discipline of the Navy 
in immediately following years would be the best system of 
education. Prince Albert Victor and Prince George were, 
consequently, placed on board the Britannia training ship in 
1870 and there they spent two years under conditions of study, 
work, training, mess, discipline and dress exactly similar to 
those of their shipmates. Their only dissipation was an occa- 
sional visit from their parents and the usual holiday period at 
home. During the two years spent on this ship they learned 



THE PRINCE AND HIS FAMILY 195 

carpentering, the details of a ship's rigging and a certain amount 
of engineering. 

At the end of this period it was decided by the Prince to 
send his sons for a prolonged cruise around the world as midship- 
men on H.M.S. Bacchante. They were to have the. same 
duties and treatment as the other midshipmen — -except per- 
haps that their teaching would be more careful and their 
studies more severe. Special instructors in seamanship, gun- 
nery, mathematics and naval conditions were appointed, with 
the Rev. J. N. Dalton, M.A., as Governor, in charge while they 
were on shore and with supervision over their ordinary studies 
when at sea. Lord Charles Scott, Captain of the war-ship, 
was, of course, supreme when the Princes were on board his 
vessel. The cruise of the Bacchante commenced in Septem- 
ber, 1879, ar, d terminated in August, 1882. During that period 
it traversed over fifty-four thousand miles and the Royal mid- 
shipmen saw and visited Gibraltar, Madeira, Teneriffe, the 
West India Islands, Bermuda, the Cape Verde Islands, Monte 
Video, the Falkland Islands, Cape Colony, Western Australia, 
South Australia, Queensland and Brisbane, Victoria and Mel- 
bourne, New South Wales and Sydney, the Fiji Islands, 
Japan, Hong-Kong, Shanghai, Canton, the Straits Settle- 
ments, Ceylon, Egypt and the Holy Land, Athens, Crete, 
Corfu and Sicily. In 1886 two handsome volumes, carefully 
edited by the Rev. Mr. Dalton, and comprising the private jour- 
nals and diaries of the young Princes, were published in London 
and were found to contain many sensible reflections and much 
garnered information upon the many countries visited during 
this circumnavigation of the globe. It was not all serious 
study and work, however, during this period, and in almost 
every place touched at, where the Princes had anything like a 
chance, there is still to be found some cherished anecdote of 
Royal jokes or pranks — especially on the part of Prince 
George. 



i 9 6 THE PRINCE AND HIS FAMILY 

Meanwhile great care and thought had been devoted to 
the education of the three daughters. From the nursery they 
passed into a school-room in which French and German, 
music, history and mathematics were the studies most interest- 
ing to their father, while the learning of dressmaking and 
sewing in various branches, cooking, dairy work, the superin- 
tending of a garden and the management of a house were care- 
fully watched over by the Princess of Wales. The Princess 
Victoria was said, in the days following the completion of her 
education, to have the most domestic turn of mind of the three 
sisters, together with a pronounced artistic taste. Latterly she 
had taken over much of the supervision of household matters 
at Sandringham and Marlborough from her Royal mother and 
is, in 1902, the only unmarried member of the family. The 
Princess Maud was, as a girl, merry, pretty and clever ; a 
capital all-round sportswoman and fond of horses, dogs, birds, 
yachting and riding ; possessed at home of the nick-name 
" Harry," and said to be the Prince's favourite daughter; fond 
of incognito experiences, charities and amusements. The 
Princess Louise was a quieter and less striking character, and, 
like her younger sister, was afterwards allowed to marry the 
man of her choice, although he did not possess the high posi- 
tion which the Royal father might naturally have desired. 

MEMORIES OF PRINCE ALBERT VICTOR 

Following the return of the two Princes from their cruise, 
Prince Albert Victor was taken by his father to Cambridge, in 
1883, and duly installed as an undergraduate of Trinity Col- 
lege. There he read regularly for six or seven hours a day, 
made himself thoroughly familiar with French and German, 
and associated himself in a most marked way with the men of 
intellect and character who were around him — nearly all his 
companions afterwards becoming distinguished in one way or 
another. Always modest and retiring he liked to entertain 



THE PRINCE AND HIS FAMILY 197 

very quietly and to enjoy any possible musical occasion which 
presented itself. Hockey, polo and a little riding were his 
outdoor amusements. He came of age in 1885, the Univer- 
sity conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D., and, 
during the next few years, he worked as an officer in the 
Army. It was on the attainment of his majority that Prince 
Albert Victor received a most interesting letter, under date of 
January 7th, from Mr. Gladstone. In it the veteran states- 
man said to the prospective Sovereign : " There lies before 
Your Royal Highness in prospect the occupation — I trust at a 
distant date — of a throne which, to me at least, appears the 
most illustrious in the world, from its history and associations, 
from its legal basis, from the weight of the cares it brings, from 
the loyal love of the people, and from the unparalleled oppor- 
tunities it gives, in so many ways and so many regions, of 
doing good to the almost countless numbers whom the 
Almighty has placed beneath the sceptre of England." He 
went on to express the earnest hope that His Royal Highness 
might ever grow in the principles and qualities which should 
adorn his great vocation. 

During the Session of Parliament in 1889, the Prince of 
Wales was voted ,£36,000 annually in trust for the use of his 
children, and at about the same time it was decided to send 
Prince Albert Victor on a visit to India. On the way thither, 
at Athens, on October 20th, the latter was present at the 
wedding of his two cousins, the Duke of Sparta and the Prin- 
cess Sophia of Prussia, daughter of the Empress Frederick. 
In the great Eastern Empire he remained until April, 1890, 
visiting Hyderabad, Mysore, Madras and Calcutta, and meet- 
ing with a cordial reception which, however, lacked the great 
state and ceremony of his Royal father's famous tour. Lord 
Lansdowne was Viceroy and made a most admirable host and 
mentor. On May 24th, following, the young Prince was created 
Duke of Clarence and Avondale and Earl of Athlone, and 



198 THE PRINCE AND HIS TAMIL Y 

commenced to take his place in public life as Heir Presump- 
tive to the Throne. In November of the year 1891 Prince 
George who had, meanwhile, been pursuing his vocation in the 
Navy, was taken ill at Sandringham. The Princess was away 
but, pending her return, his father nursed him personally with 
care and devotion. Typhoid — the disease which had carried 
off "the Prince Consort and so nearly killed the Heir Apparent, 
developed and the family anxiety was very great. At this point, 
on December 8th, the engrao-ement of the Duke of Clarence to 
his cousin, the very popular and beautiful Princess May of 
Teck, was announced amidst general congratulations. 

DEATH OF THE DUKE OF CLARENCE 

Then came one of the saddest events in the history of the 
British Royal family. The young Duke had only been engaged 
a few weeks and preparations had been commenced for the 
stately ceremonial of his marriage, when it was announced that 
he had caught cold at the funeral of Prince Victor of Hohen- 
lohe and was confined to his room. With but little notice 
pneumonia developed, the constitutional weakness of his sys- 
tem was unable to throw it off, and within a few days he was 
dead — January 15th, 1892. Prince George, in the meantime, 
had recovered, but those who saw the Prince of Wales walking 
beside his eldest son's body from Sandringham Church to the 
station, say that his obvious grief was almost pathetic. As to 
the mother she never really got over the sadness of that death 
and the removal of her favourite son. If there was, at times, 
a sad expression in her eyes, years after the event, it was no 
doubt due to the sudden shock and great loss which then came 
to her. 

Five days afterwards, the following telegram to Sir 
Francis Knollys was made public : " The Prince and Princess 
of Wales are anxious to express to Her Majesty's subjects in 
the United Kingdom, the Colonies, and in India, the sense of 



THE PRINCE AND HIS FAMIL Y 199 

their deep gratitude for the universal feeling of sympathy 
manifested toward them at a time when they are overpowered 
by the terrible calamity which they have sustained in the loss 
of their beloved eldest son. If sympathy at such a moment 
is of any avail, the remembrance that their grief has been 
shared by all classes will be a lasting consolation to their 
sorrowing hearts, and, if possible, will make them more than 
ever attached to their dear country." The affection of Queen 
Victoria for this grandson, whom the Times of January 19th 
described as possessing " modesty, affectionateness, kindness, 
love of order, the desire to render every man his due, and 
reverence for age and greatness," is well-known to have been 
intense, and from Osborne, on January 26th, Her Majesty 
issued the following letter : 

' ' I must once again give expression to my deep sense of the loyalty 
and affectionate sympathy evinced by my subjects in every part of my 
Empire on an occasion more sad and tragical than any but one which has 
befallen me and mine, as well as the Nation. The overwhelming misfor- 
tune of my dearly-loved grandson having been thus suddenly cut off in 
the flower of his age, full of promise for the future, amiable and gentle, 
and endearing himself to all, renders it hard for his sorely-stricken parents, 
his dear young bride and his fond Grandmother to bow in submission to 
the inscrutable decrees of Providence." 

Meantime, on June 27th, 1889, the marriage of the Prin- 
cess Louise had taken place. Her engagement to the Earl of 
Fife was somewhat of a surprise to a social world which does 
not like to be surprised. Though the Princess was twenty- 
two and the groom forty they had known each other for years 
and Lord Fife had been a frequent and welcome guest at 
Sandringham, while the Prince and Princess of Wales had long 
been on terms of intimacy with his parents. His was the only 
bachelor's house at which the Princess of Wales had ever been 
entertained. It could not, of course, be supposed that this 
first marriage in his family — the children of which might be 



200 THE PRINCE AND HIS FAMILY 

very close to the Throne — was quite as lofty a match as the 
Royal father might wish, yet when he found that the matter was 
settled so far as the couple were personally concerned, he 
accepted the situation and asked the Queen's consent to the 
engagement. The wedding was duly celebrated at Bucking- 
ham Palace in the presence of the Queen, the Prince and 
Princess of Wales and their children, the King of the Helenes, 
the Crown Prince of Denmark, and the Grand Duke of Hesse. 
Lord Fife, who was personally very wealthy, was created Duke 
of Fife and Marquess of Macduff, and his wife shared in the 
subsequent special grant given to the Heir Apparent for the 
proper maintenance of his children. Afterwards, on the birth 
of the first child of the Duke and Duchess it was decided that 
she should not assume Royal rank but be known by the courtesy 
title due to her father's place in the Peerage. This child — 
Lady Alexandra Victoria Alberta Edwina Louise Duff — was 
born on May 17th, 1891, and on April 3rd, 1893, the Lady 
Maud Alexandra Victoria Georgia Bertha Duff was born. 
Meanwhile an interesting event had occurred on March 10, 
1888, in the celebration of the Silver Wedding of the Prince 
and Princess of Wales. Illuminations in London and a ball 
at Buckingham Palace marked the event. 

Prince George of Wales was now Heir Presumptive to 
the Throne and upon him were devolved the more or less 
arduous duties of that position. Following his brother's death 
he gave up active service in the Navy and on May 24th, 1892, 
was created Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Kil- 
larney. The importance of his marriage was now obvious and 
a year and a quarter after the death of the Duke of Clarence 
the eno-aeement of his brother to the Princess May of Teck 
was officially announced. The wedding took place on July 
6th, 1893, and there could be no doubt by that time of the popu- 
larity of the young couple and of the national pleasure at their 
union. The decorations in London eclipsed those of the Queen's 



THE PRINCE AND HIS FAMILY 201 

Jubilee and the crowds were equally great. The ceremony 
was performed at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, instead of at 
St. George's, Windsor, where the Queen, the Prince of Wales, 
the Princesses Helena and Louise and the Dukes of Albany 
and Connaugrht had been wedded. Amongst the great gather- 
ing present at the ceremony were Her Majesty and the Royal 
family as a whole, the Duke and Duchess of Teck, Lord 
Salisbury, Lord Rosebery, Mr. Morley, Mr. Bryce, Mr. Chamber- 
lain, Sir W. V. Harcourt, Lord Ripon, Lord Spencer, Lord 
Herschell, Mr. Balfour, Mr. Goschen, the Dukes of Argyll, 
Norfolk and Devonshire, Mr. Gladstone, the Hon. T. F. 
Bayard, American Minister, several Indian Princes and many 
others. The Times of July 7th had the following comment 
upon the event : 

" Few Royal weddings of our timearroused such unusual enthusiasm 
as the union of the Duke of York with the bride of his choice — an English 
Princess, born and bred in an English home, endeared to all hearts by the 
now softened memory of a tragic sorrow and richly endowed with all the 
qualities which inspire the brightest hopes for the future. Fewer still have 
ever been celebrated with happier omens, or in more auspicious circum- 
stances than that of yesterday. The pomp of a brilliant Court, the acclaim, 
at once tumultuous and orderly, of the mightiest of cities, spontaneously 
making holiday and decking itself in its brightest and bravest, the simul- 
taneous rejoicing of a whole people, the sympathy, unbought and yet 
priceless, of a world-wide Empire, the radiant splendour of an English 
summer day — all these combined to make the ceremony of yesterday an 
occasion as memorable as that of the Jubilee itself." 

The bridesmaids were all relations of the young couple — 
the Princesses Victoria and Maud of Wales, Victoria Melita, 
Alexandra and Beatrice of Edinburgh ; Margaret and Victoria 
Patricia of Connaught ; Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein ; Vic- 
toria and Alexandra of Battenberg. The Duke of York wore 
a simple Captain's uniform and was supported by his Royal 
father and the Duke of Edinburgh. The bride was described 
in the papers of the time as wearing silver and white brocade, 



202 THE PRINCE AND HIS FAMILY 

with clustered shamrocks, roses and thistles. On July ioth 
the Queen addressed one of her usual tactful and gracious 
letters to the nation expressive of her personal sympathy with 
the people and of theirs with her and her family. 

The eldest child of this marriage — Prince Edward Albert 
Christian George Andrew Patrick David — was direct in sue- 
cession to the Throne after his father and was born on June 
23, 1894. The second child was Prince Albert Frederick 
Arthur George, born on December 14, 1895. Princess Victoria 
Alexandra Alice Mary, was born on April 25th, 1897, and Prince 
Henry William Frederick Albert on March 31, 1900. The 
Prince of Wales was greatly attached to his grandchildren and 
nothing in these later years gave him greater pleasure than hav- 
ing around him the youthful scions of the House of Fife, or that 
of York, and giving them presents and other means of enjoy- 
ment. On July 22, 1896, his third daughter, the Princess 
Maud, was married to Prince Charles, second son of the Crown 
Prince of Denmark. The ceremony was performed in the 
private Chapel of Buckingham Palace, by the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, in the presence of the Queen and most of the 
members of the Royal family. The Duke and Duchess of 
Sparta, the Crown Prince and Princess of Denmark, Mr. and 
Mrs. Gladstone and Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain were amongst 
the guests. The bridesmaids were Princesses Ingeborg of 
Denmark, Victoria of Wales, Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, 
Thyra of Denmark, Victoria Patricia of Connaught, Margaret 
of Connaught, Alice of Albany and the Lady Alexandra Duff. 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Prince as a Social Leader. 

THE influence wielded upon Society by the Prince of 
Wales, during nearly forty years of public life, was so 
marked and important as to merit extended considera- 
tion. Society, of course, in such a connection includes much 
more than any particular set of persons however select, or dis- 
tinguished, or aristocratic ; it means, in fact, all the varied 
social circles, high and low, which have recognized principles 
of etiquette and intercourse and common customs of amuse- 
ment and fashion. Taken in this wide sense of the word, no 
personage in the history of Europe during the nineteenth 
century wielded so great an influence as His Royal Highness. 
He helped to make the unbounded after-dinner drinking of a 
previous period unpopular and socially un-orthodox ; he en- 
couraged in his more youthful days and always enjoyed the 
pleasures of dancing ; he introduced very largely the popular 
fashion of a cigarette after dinner in place of endless heavy 
cigars and their accompaniment of liquors ; he did much to 
encourage and popularize a love for music ; he led the fashion 
in the matter of men's dress and, upon the whole, society ia 
most civilized countries has to thank him for simple and digni- 
fied customs in this respect ; he supported the race-course with 
courage and persistence and not only made racing more popu- 
lar but helped to establish its code and operation upon a high 
plane of honour — by far the highest and cleanest in the world; 
he made charity and the support of its varied public institu- 
tions popular and fashionable ; he showed the gilded youth of 
a great social world that work was a good thing for a Prince 
203 



204 THE PRINCE AS A SOCIAL LEADER 

and a peer as well as for a peasant ; he, with his beautiful 
wife, presented for many years a model home and family life 
to the nation and they, together, discouraged many of the 
petty vices and small faults which creep into all social systems 
from time to time. 

LIFE AT MARLBOROUGH HOUSE 

The official and social centre of this leadership in the 
British world was at Marlborough House — a large and unpre- 
tentious residence in the heart of London. That the place 
was exquisitely furnished and equipped goes without saying ; 
that it was comfortable in the extreme is equally a matter of 
course to those acquainted with the taste and house-keeping 
capacities of the Princess of Wales. It was filled with fine 
engravings and paintings illustrative of the Victorian era ; it 
teemed with mementoes and memorials of past incidents, 
travels and friendships in the lives of the Royal couple ; it 
contained rooms suited for every purpose required in the ex- 
acting life and multifarious public duties of its occupants. 
The Prince's study, where only intimates were admitted, has 
been described as the room of a hard-working man of business. 
When at Marlborough House, His Royal Highness used to 
mark out his time, each day, with care and precision and even 
then it was difficult to fill his many and varied engagements. 
There were certain public functions such as the Horse Show 
at Islington, or the Royal Military Tournament, to which the 
Prince and Princess always went when in London. There were 
a certain number of state dinners given in place of those which, 
under other circumstances, would have been given by the 
Sovereign. Diplomatic dinners were also incidents of the sea- 
son at Marlborough House as well as dinners which included 
the Government and Opposition leaders and great banquets 
held from time to time in honour of foreign guests of the 
nation or Royal relations visiting the country. 



THE PRINCE AS A SOCIAL LEADER 205 

The dininor-room at Marlborough was handsome but 
plain, the arrangements of the table setting an example of 
simplicity which society, in this case, did not always follow. 
The Prince of Wales never concealed his dislike for the 
extremely lengthy banquets which were the custom in his youth 
and succeeded, so far as private dinner-parties were concerned, 
in revolutionizing the system. To the favoured guest Marl- 
borough House was a scene of historic as well as personal 
interest. It had been the home of the great Duke of that 
name ; the residence of Prince Leopold, intended husband of 
the lamented Princess Charlotte, and afterwards King of the 
Belgians ; the dower-house of Queen Adelaide ; the choice of 
the Prince Consort for his son's London home. The general 
contents of the house were worthy of its history. In one 
room were splendid panels of Gobelin tapestry presented by 
Napoleon ; in another were the rare and wonderful treas- 
ures of Indian work, in gold, silver, jewelry and embroidery, 
brought home from the Royal visit to Hindostan ; elsewhere 
was a beautiful vase given the Prince by Alexander II. of 
Russia, enamelled work from the East, richly ornamented 
swords, trays of solid gold, tables full of presentation keys, 
medals, trowels and memorials of all kinds. 

Socially, the drawing-room was the central feature of in- 
terest. Its general effect has been described* as being white 
and gold and pale pink, its floor of polished oak with an Ax- 
minster carpet in the centre, and with an appearance of vast- 
ness modified by pillars of white and gold. There were 
innumerable mirrors and the furniture was upholstered in deep 
red, while rare china, flowers, photographs, statuettes, and 
small ornaments of gold and silver and enamel were scattered 
in profusion upon tables, cabinets and mantels. Here the 
most eminent men and beautiful or clever women of Great 



* Private Life of King Edward VII. By a member of the Royal Household. D. Appleton & 
Co. N. Y. 



2o6 THE PRINCE AS A SOCIAL LEADER 

Britain and the world have been entertained and here, or in 
the well-kept grounds, the intimate friends of the Prince and 
Princess have gathered from time to time. 

The society received at Marlborough was always cosmo- 
politan in its variety but it was never of the kind which slander 
sometimes insinuated. No man has ever been more democratic, . 
so far as mere class barriers are concerned, than was the Prince 
of Wales, but no one knew better than he where to draw the 
line in his entertainments. The Princess, for her part, was at 
all times a model hostess, and each knew too well what was 
due to the other to make the social life of the Palace anything 
more than a correct embodiment and representation of the 
social life of London. The liberality of the Prince was made 
evident in later years in making cultivated and representative 
Americans or Jews welcome at his functions. His very proper 
and openly-avowed liking for beautiful women encouraged at 
one time a social class of "professional beauties," but as soon 
as this patronage was found to have been misused and vulgar- 
ized in certain quarters, he and the Princess quietly dropped 
those who were making a trade of the Royal recognition. A 
story has been told illustrating the capacity which the Prince 
of Wales always showed for keeping people in their proper 
places. On one occasion, at a great charitable bazaar in Albert 
Hall, which he had honoured with his presence, he went up to 
a refreshment stall and asked for a cup of tea. The fair vendor 
— there was no doubt of her beauty — before handing the cup 
to His Royal Highness took a drink from it, saying, " ?iow 
the price will be five guineas ! " The Prince gravely paid the 
money, handed back the cup of tea and said , " Will you please 
give me a clean cup ? " 

The Royal etiquette, as to social entertainments and the 
acceptance of invitations to country houses, or city functions, 
was always very exact and was carried out along lines fixed by 
the Prince and Princess in their early married life. Outside of 



THE PRINCE AS A SOCIAL LEADER 207 

the aristocracy, or a small list of personal friends, very few 
hospitable invitations were ever accepted and as such accept- 
ance meant certain admission to the higher ranks of society 
the pressure upon personal friends or officials can easily be 
imagined. The Prince always objected to the lavish and 
extravagant style of such entertainments and this was one 
important reason for limiting his circle of hosts and hostesses. 
At the country houses visited from time to time, or at the 
private dinners to which he accepted invitations, the Prince 
was supposed to usually see a list of the guests and to always 
have the right of adding names to it. The delicate and indi- 
rect task of attending to this matter was for many years 
confided to Mr. Harry Tyrwhitt Wilson ; who also had the 
arrangement of details in connection with the visits largely in 
his hands. One incident of the visits to country houses was 
an effort on the part of the Prince in recent years to discour- 
age and check the wholesale habit of tipping servants. He 
took the method of leaving a moderate and suitable sum for 
the purpose and this was distributed after he had left the 
place. It may be added that whenever the Prince went any- 
where he was always accompanied by an equerry, his own 
valets, a footman to wait on him at meals, and certain other 
servants. 

FRIENDS AND COMPANIONS OF THE PRINCE 

The Prince and Princess of Wales, separately or together 
as the case may be, have visited most of the splendid homes 
of Englai d. Chief amongst those whom they delighted to visit 
were the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire and Chatsworth, 
Hardwick Hall and Compton Place have, therefore, more 
than once seen most brilliant entertainments in their honour. 
Lord and Lady Cadogan were frequent and favourite hosts. 
Lord and Lady Londonderry, the Earl and Countess of War- 
wick, the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House, the late 
Duke of Westminster at Eaton Hall, all entertained the Royal 



2o8 THE PRINCE AS A SOCIAL LEADER 

couple upon more than one occasion. Lord Alington, the late 
Duke of Beaufort, and Sir Edward Lawson gave the Prince 
frequent and enjoyable shooting. The Duchess of Marlbo- 
rough and Mrs. Arthur Paget were two American ladies whom 
His Royal Highness counted as friends and hostesses. Several 
members of the Rothschild family entertained the Heir Appar- 
ent at homes which have been described as models of comfort 
and museums of art, while Lord Penrhyn was a Welsh mag- 
nate whom he once visited with great pleasure, and the late 
Baron Hirsch, in his Hungarian shootings, gave him splendid 
sport upon more than one occasion. 

No phrase has been more conspicuous in recent years and 
none have been more abused in meaning and application than 
that of " the Prince's set." Properly used, it meant his per- 
sonal friends or those who, along specific and often very 
diverse lines of sport, society, work, or travel, were necessarily 
intimate with His Royal Highness. Improperly applied, it 
was supposed to designate a rather fast and very "smart" set 
of wealthy social magnates. In this latter guise it had really 
no existence. Those who were familiar with the Prince of 
Wales' career and character knew that mere wealth was the 
last thing which ever attracted him, and the one thing which 
was a most certainly uncertain basis upon which to gain his 
patronage ; to say nothing of his friendship. Many disap- 
pointed millionaires can speak with accuracy upon this point 
— if they wished to. On the other hand, honest love of racing, 
or shooting or yachting ; brilliancy of conversation in man or 
woman and conspicuous beauty or charm of manner in the 
latter ; knowledge of the world and capacity to do the right 
thino- in the right way at the right time were conspicuous 
factors in obtaining the friendship of the Prince of Wales. 
Achievements in art, or distinction in the Army and Navy, or 
oreat philanthropic interests and undertakings, were always 
elements of recognized importance. 



THE PRINCE AS A SOCIAL LEADER 209 

Deer-stalking in the Highlands made friends and hosts 
such as the late Dukes of Sutherland and Hamilton, Mr. Far- 
quharson of Invercauld and Lord Glenesk. During his annual 
visits to Homburg, for many years, and in the rest and liberty 
which he allowed himself there, the Prince's favourite com- 
panion, as he was his most devoted friend, was the late Mr. 
Christopher Sykes. Lord Brampton — the clever, witty and 
eccentric Judge who was better known as Sir Henry Hawkins 
— the Right Hon. "Jimmy" Lowther, M.P., Lord Charles and 
Lord William Beresford, and Sir Allen Youne were also 
special friends of the holiday season. Admiral Sir Henry 
Keppel was a very old friend of the Prince and his family and 
this intimacy also included Mr. and Mrs. George Keppel. 
Lord Rosebery, Lord Beaconsfield, Lord Randolph Churchill 
and the late Lord Derby could all claim the Royal friendship, 
while Lord and Lady Farquhar were delightful and favourite 
hosts of both the Prince and his wife. Colonel Oliver Mon- 
tagu was a very old and dear friend, and the Earl of Ayles- 
ford, Lord Cadogan, General Lord Wantage, Colonel Owen 
Williams, Earl Carrington, Lord and Lady Dudley and Lord 
Russell of Killowen ranked in the category of friendship. 
Lord and Lady Alington had the rare distinction of giving 
dances to which the Princess of Wales used to take her 
daughters when they were young girls. 

Amongst hostesses other than those already mentioned 
whose entertainments the Prince liked to attend were Mrs. 
Bischoffstein and Mrs. Arthur Rothschild. Other personal 
friends were the late Earl of Lathom, the bright and witty 
Marchioness of Aylesbury, Lord James of Hereford and the 
late Sir Charles Hall. Amongst artists whom the Prince 
greatly favoured were Sir Charles and Lady Halle and the 
late Lord Leighton. No closer and more devoted friends of 
the Prince could be found than the members of his own 
Household, and the public was long aware of this in the 
14 



210 THE PRINCE AS A SOCIAL LEADER 

persons of Lord Suffield, Sir Francis Knollys and Sir Dighton 
Probyn, in particular. The Prince delighted in doing honour 
to those whom he accepted as friends. He marked his sorrow 
at the deaths of Colonel Oliver Montagu and Baron Ferdinand 
de Rothschild by personally attending their funerals — an ex- 
ception to the rule which he had set himself in this connection.. 

His Royal Highness frequently gave his powerful 
patronage to the promotion of Memorials to those who had 
been honoured by his friendship and who deserved honour 
upon national grounds. An early instance of this was the 
case of Dean Stanley. A later one, on July 13, 1900, was the 
gathering called at Marlborough House and presided over by 
the Prince for the purpose of erecting a national memorial in 
Westminster Abbey to the Duke of Westminster. In speak- 
ing, His Royal Highness said: "To me personally the death 
of the Duke meant the loss of a life-long friend. I had known 
him from his boyhood and there is no one whose friendship I 
appreciated more than his. In my judgment there is no one 
whose public services more fully deserve public recognition by 
his countrymen." 

Fidelity to friends and appreciation of manly qualities and 
special abilities were always characteristic of the Prince of 
Wales and, combined with his tact and the unusual qualifica- 
tions of the Princess as a hostess, made Marlborough and 
Sandringham, in different ways, the most ideal centres of social 
entertainment. Taken as a whole, the Prince's leadership of 
society was emphatically for good. His approval and patron- 
age of the opera or the tkeatre, the race-course or the shoot- 
ing-box, may not have been agreeable to some people, but they 
represented the popular opinion of the great majority. He 
took things as they were, enjoyed them in a full-hearted and 
honest way, improved the morale of the social system and the 
practices in vogue in many directions and left Society infinitely 
better and more honest than he had found it. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Prince as a Sportsman. 

IN his devotion to the " sport of kings" the Prince of Wales 
followed the excellent example of Henry VIII, Queen 

Elizabeth, Charles I, Charles II, William of Orange, 
Queen Anne, the Duke of Cumberland, George IV, and 
William IV. He represented in this respect an inherent and 
seemingly natural liking of the English people. With them 
the manly art of war, the physical excitements of chivalry, and 
tests of endurance in civil and foreign struggles, have been 
replaced by the games and sports of a quieter and more peace- 
ful period. Riding to hounds, steeple-chasing and the amateur 
or professional race-course represent a most popular as well 
as aristocratic phase of this development. The Prince of Wales, 
early in his life, took a liking to racing in all its forms and 
encouraged steeple-chasing at a time when it was neither fashion- 
able nor popular. He became a member of the Jockey Club 
in 1868. It was not, however, until 1877 tnat his afterwards 
famous colours of purple, gold band, scarlet sleeves and black 
velvet cap with gold fringe, were carried at Newmarket in the 
presence of the Princess and before a great and fashionable 
gathering. Five years later His Royal Highness won the 
Household Brigade Cup at Sandown and thenceforward his 
interest in the sport was keen, although it was not till some 
years afterwards that he established his own racing-stable 
which, in 1890, was placed under the efficient management of 
Lord Marcus Beresford. 

During these years the Prince lost a good deal of money, 
though the amount was never known or even truthfully guessed 



212 THE PRINCE AS A SPORTSMAN 

at, but in 1889 his horses began also to win. In that year he 
won ^204, in 1891 ^4148, in 1894 ^3499- and in tne next f° ur 
years a total of ,£57,430. In 1892 a Royal stud was founded 
at Sand ring-ham and there Persimmon and Diamond Jubilee 
were bred. The Derby of 1896 was perhaps, the most historic 
of English racing events. Attended by a crowd of three 
hundred thousand people, raced in with horses owned by such 
generous patrons of the turf as the Prince of Wales, the Duke 
of Westminister and Mr. Leopold de Rothschild, watched with 
unusual interest by the crowd, it resulted in the most popular 
victory in the history of English sport. The Prince had fought 
hard for this blue ribbon of the turf, he had faced defeat and 
discouragement again and again and it was known that he 
would prize success more than anything within the limits of 
his ambition. When, therefore, Persimmon carried his colours 
to the first victory won at Epsom by a Prince of Wales in a 
hundred years, the delight of the Royal owner was evident. 
The great gathering of people cheered as if each person present 
had himself won the race and their obvious enthusiasm was an 
expression of personal liking as well as loyalty. This was a 
great year for the Prince whose horses not only won the 
Derby, the St. Leger and the £ 10,000 Jockey Club Stakes 
but also the Newmarket Stakes. In 1897 Persimmon won the 
Ascot Cup and the Eclipse Stakes (worth together ,£12,700) 
and was then retired from the turf. Trained by Richard Marsh 
and ridden by John Watts, this horse had given his Royal 
owner not only financial success but— what he valued infinitely 
more — great victories in a sport which he loved. 

From that time on the Prince continued to be lucky with 
his horses. At the Derby of 1900 Diamond Jubilee won in 
exactly the same time as the Royal horse of 1896 had done. 
At this race, on May 30th, the Prince was accompanied by a 
large number of noblemen and ladies and gentlemen interested 
in racing. The Duke of Devonshire, Lord Rothschild, Lord 



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THE PRINCE AS A SPORTSMAN 213 

Cheylesmore, the Marquess of Londonderry, the Duke of 
Portland, Lord Farquhar, the Earl of Chesterfield, the Earl 
and Countess of Crewe, the Earl and Countess Carrington, 
and others, came from London in the Royal special train. In 
the Royal box at the races were the King of Sweden, the Duke 
and Duchess of Connaught, the Princess Victoria, the Duke 
of Cambridge and other royalties. The success of the Prince's 
horse in two minutes, forty-two seconds, was received with 
tremendous applause and with general congratulation in a large 
section of the press while, in the same year, the Royal colours 
were also carried to victory at the Grand National and the 
Two Thousand Guineas. The whole record was a unique 
one ; the time at the Derby was the fastest in the history of 
the course ; the winner of 1900 was a brother to the winner in 
1896 ; and those who lost money appeared to be as glad that 
the popular Prince should win as if they had themselves backed 
his horse. 

RACING FRIENDS AND YACHTING EXPERIENCES 

The part taken by His Royal Highness in sporting matters 
naturally resulted in many friendships built around a mutual 
love of racing, of riding, and of the horse. Conspicuous 
amongst the good sportsmen who were also good friends of 
the Prince were the names of the Duke of Portland, Sir George 
Wombwell, Sir Reuben Sassoon, the Rothschilds, the late Lord 
Sefton, Mr. Henry Chaplin, the Earl of Zetland and Sir Fred- 
erick Johnstone. Sir John Astley, Lord and Lady Claude 
Hamilton, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur James, Sir Edward Lawson, 
Sir Edward Hulse, Lord and Lady Gerard, the Earl and 
Countess of Carnarvon, Sir William Russell and Lady Dorothy 
Neville may be mentioned amongst other devotees of the turf 
who ranked in later years as friends of the Prince of Wales 
in this particular social "set." In this connection the an- 
nual Derby Day dinner must be mentioned. From 1887 to 
the time of the Prince's accession this Royal banquet to the 



2i 4 THE PRINCE AS A SPORTSMAN 

members of the Jockey Club was an important institution and 
a much looked-for event in racing circles. Latterly it was the 
chief regular entertainment of the year at Marlborough House. 
The function was elaborate yet not too formal. Evening 
dress and not uniform was the custom ; the guests included 
about fifty of the leading patrons of the turf and there were 
generally half-a-dozen of the Royal family present ; the great 
silver dinner service ordered by the Prince at his marriage was 
always used ; and the dining-room with its side-boards laden 
with gold and silver trophies of the race-course and attendants 
in scarlet, blue and gold, was a brilliant sight. Dinner did not 
usually last more than an hour and then the guests adjourned 
to the drawing-room for whist. In 1896 and 1900 the toast of 
the Derby winner, which had so often been proposed by the 
Royal host, had to be given to some one else — greatly to the 
enthusiasm of the guests. 

The Prince of Wales was always a fearless rider and was 
fond of it from childhood. As an undergraduate at Christ- 
Church he constantly hunted with Lord Macclesfield's pack 
and was then considered a hard rider ; but in after years his 
riding was mainly done in connection with military and other 
functions and for exercise, in a milder way than that of fol- 
lowing the hounds. Akin, in some respects to the sport of 
racing, is that of yachting and to this the Prince of Wales was 
almost equally devoted. Naturally fond of the sea, trained in 
ocean travel in days when it was no pleasant drawing-room 
experience to cross the Atlantic, familiar with every part of a 
yacht and detail of its management, it was only fitting that the 
Heir to the throne of the seas should be an accomplished 
yachtsman. His first racing-yacht was the Aline and his next 
one, the Britannia, was for a time the most successful of large 
racing -yachts. Many splendid cups and pieces of plate graced 
the buffets of Sandrinarham and Marlborough and marked the 
victories of the Prince ; though any prize moneys won in this 



THE PRINCE AS A SPORTSMAN 215 

way were always handed over to his Captain and crew as an 
addition to their already handsome pay. 

His Royal Highness was a capital sailor. In returning 
from his Canadian and American tour in i860 his ship was 
driven out of its course by a severe storm and so much alarm 
was caused by the delay that a British fleet was sent out to 
search for it ; but, different as were the conditions of travel in 
those days, the Prince was not found to be any the worse for 
his stormy experience. In after years when cruising along the 
coasts of Europe, or traversing the Pacific and Indian oceans, 
he met with many a storm and severe strain, so far as weather 
was concerned, without effect. It is said, however, that he was 
troubled somewhat by rough weather in the English Channel. 
As Commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron his patronage 
did very much in making the sport popular and fashionable 
and in creating the Cowes Regatta as a great yachting func- 
tion. To this Royal Yacht Club every consideration in the 
way of prizes was given and the Queen, the Prince, the Em- 
peror William of Germany, and Napoleon III. of France, 
offered prizes or trophies, from time to time. As Commo- 
dore — which office he accepted in 1882 — His Royal Highness 
had as predecessors the Earl of Yarborough, the Marquess of 
Donegal and the Earl of Wilton. The Vice-Commodore for 
many years was the Marquess of Ormonde. 

THE NAVY AND LOVE OF SHOOTING 

On July 1 8th, 1887, the position of the Heir Apparent 
was recognized and the Navy complimented through his ap- 
pointment by the Queen as Honorary Admiral of the Fleet. 
Some criticism was expressed in a portion of the Radical press 
mainly, it was stated, through ignorance of the Prince's real 
qualifications as both a seaman and yachtsman. Upon his 
accession to the Throne no single action was more popular 
than King Edward's retention of this latter title and the interest 



2i 6 THE PRINCE AS A SPORTSMAN 

which he continued to show in the Navy. His Majesty 
took as great interest in Sir Thomas Lipton's efforts to win 
the America Cup as he had in the previous attempts of Lord 
Dunraven. Sir Thomas was, apparently, a congenial spirit in 
this connection and from both Prince and King he received a 
good deal of favour. It was while cruising with him on board 
Shamrock II., off Southampton, (May 22, 1901) that a heavy 
wind unexpectedly strained the spars and gear too much and 
brought down the top-mast and mainmast in a sudden wreck 
which crashed over the side of the frail yacht. The danger to 
the King was very great and a difference of ten seconds in his 
position would probably have given fatal results. The visit to 
the yacht was, of course, a private one, but such an incident as 
this made the affair very widely commented upon. The Lon- 
don Daily Express of the succeeding day embobied a good 
deal of public opinion in the following remarks : 

" King though he be, he is resolute to live the frank and free life of 
an English gentleman, taking the chances of sport by land and sea as 
gaily as any undistinguished son of the people, whose life is of no smallest 
national import. That is the sort of King we want, the sort of King we 
will die for if need be— a King who holds his own in every manly exer- 
cise, loving sport all the more because it contains the element of danger 
that possesses such a subtle attraction for men of Anglo-Saxon blood." 

Shooting was probably the favourite all-round sport of the 
Prince of Wales and in this he heartily embodied one more 
characteristic of the typical English gentleman. It has been 
described as a positive passion with him and as being " the 
love of his life." His father had been a thorough sportsman, 
though not a very good shot ; the son became not only a 
thorough sportsman but perhaps the best shot in the United 
Kingdom. At seven years of age he was taught deer-stalking, 
at Oxford he frequently did a day's shooting on neighbouring 
estates, and, in his American and Canadian tour, a great 
pleasure to the young man was an occasional day's sport. At 



THE PRINCE AS A SPORTSMAN 217 

Sandringham he early mapped out his estate into a series of 
drives and soon combined with other famous shots to create 
and make popular the big battues which were afterwards so 
well known and which came to constitute so important an 
event in the shooting seasons at his Norfolk home. But His 
Royal Highness never confined himself to shooting pheasants, 
hares, or rabbits. Deer-stalking and shooting grouse were 
favourite pursuits, and he knew no greater pleasure than to 
spend a day, or days, upon the moors, accompanied by friends 
and hosts such as the late Duke of Sutherland, his son-in-law, 
the Duke of Fife, Mr. Mackenzie of Kintail and Colonel Far- 
quharson of Invercauld. Going out from Abergeldie, or Bal- 
moral, or Mar Lodge on a stalking expedition, the Prince 
cared neither for exposure to bad weather, nor severe exertion, 
so long as he could return with a bag of several head of deer. 
With the German Emperor and the late Duke of Coburg he 
enjoyed splendid sport in the vast forests of Central Europe 
from time to time, and with Baron Hirsch, on his great Hun- 
garian estates, he had hunted deer, chamois, wild boar and 
roebuck, as he had shot game in America, hunted tigers and 
elephants in India, shot crocodiles in Egypt and hunted in the 
forests of Ceylon or Denmark. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Habits and Character of the Prince. 

DURING forty years of his career as Prince of Wales, 
King Edward VII. was probably the most talked-of 
man in the United Kingdom. Good-natured stories, 
ill-natured anecdotes, criticisms grading down from the mali- 
cious to the very mild, praise ranging from the fulsome to the 
feeble point, falsehoods great and falsehoods small, have found 
currency not confined to the English language and ranging 
through "yarns" of gutter journals in London, Paris, Berlin, 
New York or Calcutta, in varied languages, and in many 
degrees of fabrication. Outside of the United Kingdom some 
of these stories have been more or less believed ; even in his 
own national home there were always people ready and 
willing to accept the worst that they heard about a great pub- 
lic personage. Where he was known best, however, the 
influence of these things upon the reputation of the Prince of 
Wales was least and, in fact, so small as to afford little or no 
excuse for dealing with them. Abroad, however, it had always 
been different, and in the United States, thirty years before 
his accession to the Throne, it was conspicuously so. With 
the passing years, of course, and with growing knowledge of 
the Prince's position and character, the situation greatly 
changed. 

As a matter of fact the Prince of Wales, from the early 

days of his manhood, was in his personal and private relations 

a jovial, honest and honourable English gentleman ; possessed 

of a full sense of his responsibility in much burdensome work 

218 



HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 219 

and ceremonial and with a growing appreciation, as years 
passed, of his place as a sort of impartial Empire statesman ; 
possessed, also, of a large fund of animal spirits and capacity 
for enjoying the pleasures of life. Within the full limits of 
his rights and his position he lived his life of work and plea- 
sure, of public responsibility and of private rest and recreation. 
Yet it was almost always in the blaze of a noon-day publicity 
and few, indeed, were the times and seasons in which the 
Heir Apparent could amuse himself in any genuine incognito. 
Attempt it he might, but if any evil-minded critic were to 
seriously orconscientiously considerthe situation — both of which 
suppositions are improbable — he might have seen that the 
best-known and most photographed man in the world would 
indeed have been foolish to trust to an incognito for any but 
the simplest and most innocent of objects. The actual impos- 
sibility of the Prince of Wales escaping from his entourage, his 
identity, and his surroundings, were sufficient to make Con- 
tinental fictions and foreign fancies about him absolutely 
farcical to those who knew something of his daily life — aside 
altogether from those who knew and understood his real 
character. 

THE MORDAUNT CASE. 

There was only one matter involving moral considerations 
which ever emerged from the low region of back-door insinua- 
tion to the upper air and it was threshed out in a cause celebre 
— that of Lady Mordaunt. Her husband, an English baronet, 
sued for divorce before the Court of Divorce and Matrimonial 
Causes, alleging the usual grounds, and naming as co-respon- 
dents, Viscount Cole and Sir Frederick Johnstone. The case 
was heard on February 16th, 1870, and following days, and the 
defence on the part of Lady Mordaunt was insanity. The 
Prince of Wales, though not specified in the indictment, was 
so widely gossiped about as being connected with the case that 
he asked to be heard and swore positively that there had been 



220 HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 

no improper relations between himself and the defendant. 
Two of the Judges on Appeal — Lord Penzance and Mr. Justice 
Keating — agreed with the jury's verdict that Lady Mordaunt 
was insane, while Chief Baron Kelly differed. The woman in 
the case was for years afterwards confined in a lunatic asylum, 
and it has long since been quite well understood that the only 
basis for scandal was the fact that a Royal visit which had been 
paid upon one occasion was made under the invariable rule 
of etiquette, which prescribes that no other caller shall be 
received while the visit lasts. Before and after the trouble 
Lady Mordaunt's sisters, and especially the Dowager Countess 
of Dudley, were amongst the Princess of Wales' warm friends, 
while the daughter of the plaintiff in the case was, in later 
years, received at Sandringham, and was given many beauti- 
ful presents by the members of the Royal family upon her 
marriage to the Marquess of Bath. Such conditions would 
have been absolutely impossible to imagine with the Princess 
of Wales had she entertained the slightest belief in the stories 
floating about regarding that famous trial. During the suc- 
ceeding thirty years, however, there was never even an 
apparent excuse for the repetition of such stories, and the 
happy home life of the Prince and Princess was patent to all 
who were willing to believe the evidence of their eyes and 
ears. 

What may be said of the characteristics and habits of this 
many-sided heir to Royal position ? Probably his first and most 
pronounced quality was one of difficult definition — tactfulness. 
Through its means he led society without rivalry and with 
unique success ; promoted reforms without violence of agita- 
tion or the creation of antagonisms ; carried out countless 
varied and delicate duties, with noiseless celerity, in an age of 
intense and active curiosity. In forty years of ceaseless poli- 
tical change and frequently acute political crises not a whisper of 
his private views became known to the million-tongued press or 



HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 221 

the curious public. He had known every kind of partisan and 
been liked by leaders of the masses as well as the classes — by 
Joseph Arch and Henry Broadhurst, as well as by the Earl of 
Derby or the Marquess of Salisbury. If he visited Mr. Glad- 
stone at Hawarden on one occasion he paid the same honour 
to Lord Beaconsfield at Hughenden at another time. If Lord 
Randolph Churchill was a personal friend so also was Lord 
Rosebery, or Mr. Balfour. His genial manner and sometimes 
cosmopolitan view of society encouraged a popular opinion as 
to his natural democracy ; while a personal dignity, never 
forced, or assumed, but always present, prevented the most 
courageous person from taking undue advantage of the free- 
dom from ceremonial which he sometimes liked to encourage. 
His preferences in international matters were as little known as 
his political opinions, and yet, at times, his influence in this 
respect was very great. 

SPORTING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PRINCE 

The next and perhaps most prominent characteristic of 
the Prince of Wales was his love for sports and his embodi- 
ment of qualities which, in everyday life, constitute the Eng- 
lish country gentleman. Some reference has already been 
made to his interest in racing, yachting and shooting. But 
most of the lesser sports and games were also attractive to 
him at different periods, and there was hardly one with which 
he was not more or less familiar. Boating and riding in his 
University days and fox-hunting at Sandringham from time to 
time in later years, were incidents of this record. Croquet he 
was an expert in, but never very fond of. Lawn-tennis, when 
first introduced and for years afterwards, was a game to which 
he was very partial, and on the Sei'apis when traversing the 
route to T ndia he played deck-tennis until everyone else was 
exhausted. The bowling-alley at Sandringham was one of the 
best in England and the Prince was always fond of a game of 



222 HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 

bowls. Quoits he played well, and billiards he played with 
frequency and skill — his daughters being also able to handle the 
cue with success. Hockey was a favourite game, especially 
on the lakes at Sandringham, and of this sport the other mem- 
bers of his family were equally fond. Skating and hockey 
parties were frequent during severe winter seasons and the 
Prince played in many specially arranged hockey matches — 
one of them against members of the House of Commons in 
the winter of 1894-5 included Mr. Balfour, Lord Stanley, 
Lord Willoughby de Eresby and Mr. Victor Cavendish. 

Fishing never appealed to him and was, apparently, too 
quiet and easy a sport. He liked pigeon-flying, and bred 
some very fine birds at Sandringham for this purpose. Tricy- 
cling he was very fond of and kept good machines both at 
Marlborough and Sandrinorham. As soon as motor cars came 
into use he could be frequently seen driving a smart carriage 
along the country roads of Norfolk. Chess the Prince never 
mastered nor cared for. In dancing he was an expert, as well 
as in skating, and was always exceedingly fond of the amuse- 
ment. At his Sandringham balls he was an indefatigable 
dancer, and at great balls all over the world he delighted many a 
partner and varied social circle by his obvious pleasure in the 
entertainment. From Halifax to Montreal, from Toronto to 
New York, in Canada and the United States, in Egypt and 
India, in Turkey and Greece, in all the greater Courts of 
Europe, from the days of Napoleon III at Paris, to those of 
William II at Berlin, he had been the central figure of some 
such occasions. Golf was played by His Royal Highness on 
the links of Musselburgh in early days and at a later time in 
Windsor Park. Cricket he was fond of in his younger days, 
but latterly he only showed his interest by patronizing matches 
as an onlooker. In these and other pursuits the Prince repre- 
sented in his mode of life and his manner of enjoying himself 



HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 223 

the qualities of a distinct type amongst his countrymen and a 
type most popular throughout the community. 

Another characteristic of the Prince was his good man- 
ners. The "first gentleman in Europe" always knew how to 
be pleasant without being familiar, dignified without being 
pompous, genial without being free. Myriads of stories are 
told in this connection. At the skating and hockey parties on 
the Sandringham lakes the farmers' wives and daughters were 
included and no Duchess in the land would be handed a cup 
of tea with more courtly manner by the Royal host than would 
the wife of a tenant on his estates. His servants, in houses 
and farms and stables, in sport or travel, at home and abroad, 
were treated in such a way as to make every one of them wish 
to serve the Prince for a life-time. No more charming inci- 
dent is on record than the way in which His Royal Highness 
approached Mrs. Gladstone at the state funeral of her great 
husband, bowed low before her and kissed her proffered hand. 
Whether in high circles, or in those of ordinary people, in ex- 
pected surroundings or amid unexpected conditions, the Prince 
seemed to always retain this faculty of politeness in the 
true sense of the word — a product of heart and mind rather 
than of mere instruction or habit. 

His manner and style of public speaking was an incident 
in the Prince of Wales' career which exercised considerable 
influence upon his personal popularity. The pronounced fac- 
tors in his style were not oratory, gestures, or brilliancy. 
Plain in matter and manner the speeches always were ; full of 
meat and substance they frequently were ; neat and effective 
they were generally considered. Mr. Gladstone once went 
further than this description would seem to warrant when he 
declared that there were few speakers whom he listened to 
with more pleasure. " His speeches are invariably marvels of 
conciseness, graceful expression and clear elocution". His 
voice was a good one, clear and distinct and well-trained. 



224 HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 

Nervous in his younger days and accustomed to learn the 
speeches off for delivery, he gradually changed with age and 
experience into the delivery of impromptu after-dinner remarks 
and speeches which did not show traces of the midnight oil or 
earnest preparation — although often full of facts and incidents 
about the immense variety of subjects with which he had to deal. 

Intimately connected with these characteristics of his was 
the unquestioned ability to judge human nature. This quality 
enabled the Prince to play his difficult part so well as he did, 
to keep him in touch with all classes and the masses, to culti- 
vate all the varied elements of a changing national life, and to 
be as much at home amongst business men as at the Royal 
Academy — amongst the aristocracy of London as with the 
farmers of Norfolk. He was ever a good judge of the people 
around him and, perhaps, no man in modern life was so well 
and faithfully served. His memory for names and faces was 
extraordinary and would remind Canadians of the unique fac- 
ulty in this connection possessed by the late Sir John Mac- 
donald. He always hated affectation and toadyism and liked 
sincerity and simplicity. Marie Corelli, writing in 1897, used 
the following expressive words : " To entertain the Prince do 
little ; for he is clever enough to entertain himself privately 
with the folly and humbug of those he sees around him, with- 
out actually sharing in the petty comedy. He is a keen ob- 
server and must derive infinite gratification from his constant 
study of men and manners, which is sufficiently deep and 
searching to fit him for the occupation of even the throne of 
England. I say 'even', for at present, till time's great hour- 
glass turns, it is the grandest throne in the world ". 

Patronage Of music, art and the drama were characteristic 
incidents in the life and work of the Prince. The day for 
helping litc/ature had perhaps gone when he came upon the 
scene and newspapers were then supposed to do for budding 
genius what royalty and aristocracy did for Johnson, Gold- 



HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 225 

smith, Swift or Pope. It is a curious fact of later-day democ- 
racy that, with the obvious exception of Kipling, most of the 
greater lights in literature — Browning, Rossetti, Tennyson, 
Mathew Arnold or Swinburne — were born with fairly comfort- 
able means. This in passing, of course. Something has been said 
elsewhere as to His Royal Highness's patronage of music and 
there is no doubt that he taught smart society to support the 
opera, while his personal enthusiasm for Wagner was pro- 
nounced and sincere. 

THE THEATRE AND THE CHURCH 

He patronized the theatre for many years with regularity 
and discrimination ; his taste in all matters of light comedy 
and opera was known to be good ; and it goes without saying 
that his approval of a play or actor made many a reputation 
and fortune. He used to make his own selection of theatre or 
play, pay handsomely for his own box, arrive punctually on 
time and remain till the end, or very near it. His dislike of 
ostentation soon did away with the old fashion of a manager 
walking upstairs backward before royalty and his leaving a 
little early was to avoid causing delay and confusion with 
their carriages amongst the other guests of the theatre. 
Actors have greatly exaggerated the extent of his patronage 
and friendship. But he more than once took supper with Sir 
Henry Irving and it is understood to have been by his advice 
that the great tragedian was knighted. He it was who en- 
couraged the late Queen to resume her patronage of the thea- 
tre and to begin by having Mr. and Mrs. Kendal appear be- 
fore her at Osborne. He never liked, however, the appearance 
of members of the aristocracy on the stage and his daughters 
are said to have never taken part even in private theatricals. 
He is said to have enjoyed a private visit and smoke behind 
the scenes and George Grossmith is stated to have been one of 
those who were most patronized in this respect. 
15 



226 HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 

An interesting feature of his many-sided career and char- 
acter was the Heir Apparent's attention to his religious duties. 
At Marlborough and at Sandringham prayers were read daily, 
in the morning, and guests, staff and servants were expected, 
though not compelled, to be present. On Sunday the Prince 
invariably attended morning service either at the Chapel Royal 
in London, or at the quaint and beautiful little Chapel of St. 
Mary Magdalene, in the country. The latter was filled with 
handsome Memorial windows and tablets and there, for many 
years, worshipped the future King with the humblest labourers 
on his estate. The only distinction made was in the private 
entrance for the Prince and the reserved pews for his guests 
and family. His daughters taught in the Sunday School and 
the Princess had charge of the music. It has been said that the 
Prince never attended Divine service on a Sunday in any but 
an Episcopal church. Certainly the records of his travels and 
habits appear to confirm this statement. Whether in Bombay, 
or Montreal, or New York, he seems to have always attended 
the services of the Established Church or its daughter Churches. 
Even in Rome, where he once spent Easter Sunday, impressive 
ceremonies conducted by the Pope at St. Peter's did not pre- 
vent him from attending a quiet little English church and 
explaining that when members of the Church were in foreign 
lands they should be especially particular in encouraging their 
own form of faith. 

Of course, as a traveller of wide experience the Prince 
visited all the great cathedrals of the Continent and was 
familiar with the splendid Mohammedan mosques and Hindoo 
temples and sacred shrines which helped to make the glittering 
East so attractive. But they were visited on week-days. He 
was supposed to be broad in his principles as a Churchman and 
certainly at state weddings and funerals in other countries he 
shared in various forms of worship. The Princess of Wales was 
known to have attended ritualistic services before her husband's 



HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 227 

accession to the Throne, but she far more often attended 
Low or Broad Church services. On Sundays at Sandringham 
the Prince used, in the afternoons, to walk about the grounds 
with his family or guests, visit the kennels, the bear-pit, the 

1 model farms or the Princess's lovely little dairy and its suite of 
tiny attached rooms where tea would often be served. In 
London he would sometime attend Divine service ao-ain or 
else pay calls in his private hansom and then dine quietly with 
friends or have a few of them to dinner at Marlborough. 
Sunday afternoons at Sandringham were always greatly 
enjoyed by Sir Frederick Leighton and Lord Beaconsfield but 
Mr. Gladstone is said to have best liked long, lonely rambles 
through the woods of the estate. 

An important part of the character of a man in the posi- 
tion so long held by the Prince of Wales is the fact of modera- 
tion, or otherwise, in eating and drinking. It is a vital factor 
in the lives of all men but how much more so when great 
banquets are for months a daily function ; when every luxury, 
or delicacy, or combination of cookery known to the civilized 
world and the barbaric East is at one time or another offered 
for his delectation ; when the power of rulers and the wealth 
of millionaires are devoted to the furnishing of choice wines 
and liqueurs and drinks for his use. The good health always 
enjoyed by the Prince was perhaps proof enough of his 
moderation at the table. His habits in this respect became 
pretty well known. Tea at breakfast and in the afternoon he 
always liked ; Moselle cup he enjoyed and was rather proud 

. of possessing the receipt brought from Germany by the Prince 
Consort ; champagne for many years was almost his exclusive 
beverage though afterwards claret took its place. Between 
meals he seldom drank anything though a well-known " cock- 
tail " in the London clubs is credited to his invention. He 
always strongly disapproved of ladies drinking anything but a 
little wine and this was well understood by his own guests or 
by those at houses where he visited. 



228 HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 

Reference must be made here to one unpleasant incident 
in the Prince of Wales' later career — unpleasant in its results 
and in the comments of the press and pulpit. To playing cards 
for an occasional evening's amusement the Prince was always 
partial, but not to the extent which was sometimes asserted. 

CARDS AND THE BACCARAT AFFAIR 

During his journeys abroad he seldom or never played 
and he made a strict and early rule against playing in clubs. 
His friends say that he used to frequently dissuade younger 
men or the sons of old friends from forming a habit in this 
connection and as a well-known man of the world, without 
affectation and with wide experience and a naturally command- 
ing influence, his views no doubt had great weight. Hence 
the most regrettable feature in the famous Baccarat case of 
1890 which was, for a time, one of the most talked-of and 
preached-at incidents in modern social life. To understand 
the matter it is necessary to look at the Prince's environment. 
He was the leader of society and society, together with a large 
proportion of people everywhere, saw no harm in a game of 
cards, or even in the accompaniment of playing for ordinary 
money stakes, any more than they saw harm in racing and 
betting upon the results, or in dancing and its accompaniment 
of late hours and perhaps frivolous dissipation. Yet to many 
people in the United Kingdom and the Empire danger and 
evil lurked in one or all of these amusements and it was a 
shock to them to find that the Heir Apparent actually indulged 
in card-playing ; although everyone had known that he patron- 
ized the other two pursuits referred to. 

The history of the affair may be told briefly. On Sep- 
tember 8th, during the Doncaster races, Mr. Arthur Wilson, a 
very wealthy shipowner, was entertaining a large party at 
Tranby Croft, near Hull, which included the Prnce of Wales, 



HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 229 

Lord Coventry, General Owen Williams, Sir William Gordon- 
Cumming, Lord Craven, Lord and Lady Brougham and Lord 
Edward Somerset. When each day's racing was over and the 
company had returned to Tranby Croft and finished dinner, 
Baccarat was introduced as the amusement of the evening and 
played for a couple of hours. The stakes were moderate — for 
such a party — and ran from five shillings to ten pounds. About 
seventeen people, ladies and gentlemen, usually sat down and 
the Prince of Wales was the life of the party, as he generally 
was, whatever the occupation or sport. On the date men- 
tioned, Mr. Stanley Wilson, the host's son, thought he saw Sir 
W. Gordon-Cumming using his counters fraudulently and 
informed Lord Coventry and General Williams of his suspi- 
cions. On the third evening a committee of five — two ladies 
and three gentlemen — watched the baronet and unanimously 
agreed that they saw him cheating. He was privately accused 
of the offence, denied it vehemently, and brought the matter 
before the Prince, who practically acted as judge and regret- 
fully told him that there could be no doubt of his guilt. 

It was, perhaps the most difficult position the Prince of 
Wales had ever been placed in. To hand a friend and fellow- 
guest and well-known soldier over to justice meant in this case 
ruin to the man himself, disgrace to their host and his family and 
a considerable amount of discredit to the Prince. Of the latter 
point it is probable that the Prince thought least, as his fidel- 
ity to friends was always well-known. Yet to let the apparently 
guilty man go without punishment or restriction was impossi- 
ble from every standpoint. The Prince, therefore, tried to 
square his duty all round by a compromise and made Sir 
W. Gordon-Cumming sign a pledge to never play at cards 
again. The natural result followed where at least seven people 
hold a secret of much importance. It became known, or 
rather rumored, the resignation of the baronet from the Army 
was not accepted pending inquiry and, finally, he precipitated 



2 3 o HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 

the issue by sueing the committee of five— Mrs. Arthur Wil- 
son, Mr. Stanley Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Lycett Green and Mr. 
Berkeley Levett— for scandal. Sir Charles Russell acted for 
the defence and Sir Edward Clarke for the plaintiff and, after 
a sensational trial, the action was dismissed. 

The case created the most intense interest and for a time 
His Royal Highness was the most criticised man in the United 
Kingdom. Press and pulpit thundered forth denunciations of 
gambling and card-playing, and lectured the Prince upon his 
duty to the nation and his responsibility for public morality. 
Every extreme religious speaker or writer, every Radical 
paper, or pamphleteer, or lecturer found the Heir to the 
Throne an excellent subject for abuse, while the best papers 
abroad teemed with reflections which could hardly be termed 
generous. Speaking of the counters which had been used in 
these games and which were brought by the Prince personally 
to Tranby Croft the New York Tribune declared that in them 
he had " fingered the fragments of the Crown of England." 
Upon one point all the home papers were united and that was 
that in trying to arrange and settle the matter the Prince had 
contravened the Army regulations. 

The better class of papers were very serious upon the 
subject. The London Times declared that the Heir Apparent 
could not put off his responsibilities as he did his official dress 
and, while admitting the assiduity and tact and good-humour 
with which he performed his dull round of routine duties, it yet 
bitterly regretted the example he had now set The Daily 
News thought that the Prince had only been guilty of an indis- 
cretion, so far as his action toward Gordon-Cumming was 
concerned, but went on to say that what was blameless as an 
example in meaner men, was very different in one of his 
exalted position. The Standard denounced the whole affair 
from beginning to end. " The Prince of Wales is not as other 
men. His position demands a sobriety, a self-restraint, and a 



HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 231 

dignity from which people of less exalted position and lighter 
responsibilities are absolved." The religious press put no 
bounds to its denunciation. The Christian World spoke of 
the matter as an "outrage to the public conscience" and the 
British Weekly thought it " enough to sober the strongest 
supporters of the Monarchy." Resolutions were passed at some 
Church meetings of a similar character. 

AFTERMATH OF THE INCIDENT 

Then the re-aotion came. His Royal Highness expressed 
to the Military authorities and the House of Commons his 
apologies for an unintentional infraction of Army regulations ; 
it was pointed out that playing a game of cards in a private 
house was not setting a public example and that the situation 
was so unique that any man in the Prince's place would have 
been pardoned in not knowing what to do ; the cause of the 
trouble was dismissed from the Army and expelled from his 
clubs. The Daily Telegraph pointed out that the carrying of 
the Baccarat counters, which was apparently deemed the most 
serious part of the matter by many commentators, was a very 
common habit with players of this game as the symbols for 
money tended to moderation in playing, and were better in 
every way than slips of paper. Years afterwards, Mr. Arnold 
White stated it as a fact that these famous bits of pasteboard 
were actually a present from the Princess of Wales. The 
public came to feel after the first hasty judgment was given 
that, after all, the Prince had risked a good deal for a friend 
and the Observer went so far as to say that "under the most 
difficult and trying circumstances His Royal Highness has 
acted as ninety-nine Englishmen out of a hundred would have 
done." The Rev. Dr. Charles A. Berry, the eminent Non- 
conformist divine, declared that the people were not going to 
be unduly severe in their judgment. " They recognize the 
fact that he does a great deal of public work and is compelled 



232 HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 

to live almost continually a life of unnatural pressure. It is, 
therefore, to say the least, understandable that he should seek 
pleasure and relaxation in some form of excitement." 

Then the issue cooled down as suddenly as the tempest 
had arisen, and before long it would have been hard to recog- 
mize that so stormy a stage of criticism had swept over the 
popular Prince's head. In the Life of Archbishop Benson, 
published many years afterwards, there appeared a long letter 
from the Heir Apparent in answer to a note of sympathy 
received at this time from His Grace. The Prince spoke of 
the "deep pain and annoyance" which the Baccarat incident had 
caused him ; of the recent trial which had given the press 
occasion "to make most bitter and unjust attacks upon me, 
knowing I was defenceless — and I am not sure that politics 
were not mixed up in it." Speaking of the papers and the 
Nonconformists, who had been especially strong in their 
remarks, he added some interesting expressions as to his 
general view of gambling. "They have a perfect right, I am 
well aware, in a free country like our own, to express their 
opinions, but I do not consider that they have a just right to 
jump at conclusions regarding myself, without knowing the 
facts. I have a horror of gambling, and should always do my 
utmost to discourage others who have an inclination for it, as 
I consider gambling, like intemperance, is one of the greatest 
curses which a country could be afflicted with. Horse-racing 
may produce gambling, or it may not, but I have always 
looked upon it as a manly sport which is popular with Eng- 
lishmen of all classes, and there is no reason why it should be 
looked upon as a gambling transaction. Alas, those who 
gamble will gamble at anything." 

Such were some of the characteristics and habits and social 
incidents in the career of King Edward while he was Prince of 
Wales. They show how entirely he shared in the life of the 
majority of the people — a fact all the more illustrated in the 



HABITS AND CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE 233 

occasions when he departed from his natural and usual course 
and seemed to participate in matters outside of the accepted 
and popular pursuits of the people. It is the picture of a man 
who loved his England, liked life and its pleasures, hated 
humbug, enjoyed sport, did his duty as it came to him and 
liked the play, the race-course and all the sports of a healthy, 
hearty Englishman. They prove the accuracy of that inter- 
esting description penned in his Diary by the King of Sweden 
and which, somehow, became public : " The Heir Apparent to 
the British Throne is Prince of Wales by name, Prince of 
Society by inclination, Prince of Good Fellows by nature." 



CHAPTER XV. 

The Prince as an Empire Statesman. 

THE breadth of view shown by the late Prince Consort 
was one of his greatest and most marked qualities. 
He seemed to have the faculty of seeing further into 
the future than most men and of preparing his own mind for 
developments which were yet hidden from the view of contem- 
porary statesmen. Hence his famous Exhibition of 1851 and 
the realization of the fact that to encourage trade and com- 
merce some knowledge of the world's products and resources 
was not only desirable but necessary. Hence the early per- 
ception, which he shared with the Queen, of the coming im- 
portance of the Colonies and of the necessity of bringing the 
Crown into touch with those over-sea democracies which were 
growing up to nationhood in such neglected fashion and with 
such little practical concern in the Motherland. Hence the 
dislike of the Queen and himself— because she had the states- 
man's understanding as well as her husband — to the Manches- 
ter school, and their opposition to the line of thought which 
said that Colonies were useless except for commerce and not 
much good for that. Hence the Queen's long-after regard for 
Lord Beaconsfield and her appreciation of his stirring and 
romantic Imperialism. 

The Prince of Wales unquestionably inherited this capac- 
ity for statecraft from his parents. Natural and hereditary 
pride in his future Crown and in the greatness of the United 
Kingdom was developed by teaching and study and visits into 
an intense pride in the vast Empire which grew so rapidly 

*34 



THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 235 

from year to year around his country and under its Crown. 
Having a broader and saner outlook than many of those 
about him, without the spur of ordinary ambitions, or the 
hampering influence of partisan considerations, he was enabled 
to view this development more carefully, wisely, and clearly 
than the busy diplomatist or the much-occupied statesman. 
Hence the pleasure with which he saw the Imperial Federa- 
tion League formed in 1884 and watched the efforts of Mr. 
W. E. Forster and Lord Rosebery to build upon the prelimin- 
ary principles already evolved by Lord Beaconsfield. It was 
not long before he saw an opportunity to promote this senti- 
ment of unity and encourage the extension of Imperial trade. 
He had visited different parts of the Queen's dominions and 
understood something of the immense possibilities which were 
still lying dormant. His sons had since travelled over an 
even larger portion of the Empire and had, no doubt, in pri- 
vate as well as in their published journals, told him much of 
the more recent progress of those great outlying communi- 
ties. Contemporaneously, therefore, with the founding of the 
League just mentioned, His Royal Highness proposed the 
holding of a great Exhibition which should meet the new 
needs of the time as his father's had done in 1851. Then, the 
interests of British trade were cosmopolitan and Colonial de- 
velopment slight and unimportant to the immediate concerns 
of England. Now, British commerce was contracting with 
foreign countries and steadily growing with British countries. 
Hence the new Exhibition should, he thought, be confined to 
British resources and products and be Imperial instead of 
international. 

On November 10th, 1884, the Queen issued a Royal Com- 
mission to arrange for the holding of an Exhibition of the 
products, manufactures and arts of Her Majesty's Colonial 
and Indian dominions in the year 1886. The Prince of 
Wales was to be President and Sir Philip Cunliffe-Owen, 



236 THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 

Secretary, of the Commission. The first meeting took place 
at Marlborough House on March 30th, 1885, with His Royal 
Highness in the chair. Amongst the members present were 
F. M. the Duke of Cambridge, the Marquess of Salisbury, the 
Marquess of Lome, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Dalhousie, 
Earl Cadogan, the Earl of Kimberley, the Earl of Lytton, 
F. M. Lord Strathnairn, Mr. Edward Stanhope, Sir Stafford 
Northcote, Mr. W. E. Forster, Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach, Sir 
H. T. Holland, Sir John Rose, Sir R. G. W. Herbert, Sir 
Charles Tupper of Canada, Sir Arthur Blyth of South Aus- 
tralia, Sir F. D. Bell of New Zealand, Sir Saul Samuel of New 
South Wales, Mr. Charles Mills of Cape Colony, Mr. R. 
Murray Smith of Victoria, Mr. James F. Garrick of Queens- 
land, Sir W. C. Seargeant, Sir G. C. M. Birdwood and many 
other distinguished representatives of British, Colonial and 
Indian interests. In the course of his somewhat lengthy 
speech detailing the objects of the movement and the methods 
of operation, the Prince described the proposed Exhibition as 
one by which the "reproductive resources" of the Colonies 
and India would be brought before the British people and the 
different countries concerned be able to "compare the advance 
made by each other in trade, manufactures and general mater- 
ial progress". He pointed out the desire of the Motherland 
to participate in the development of Colonial material interests 
and then added: "We must remember that, as regards the 
Colonies, they are the legitimate and natural homes, in future, 
of the more adventurous and energetic portion of the popula- 
tion of these Islands." 

The Secretary announced that the preliminary list of 
guarantees provided for ^128,000, including ,£20,000 from the 
Government of India, ^10,000 from that of Canada, ,£19,000 
from the various Australasian Governments and ^1000 each 
from individual subscribers such as Lord Cadogan, Sir Thomas 
Brassey, Sir Daniel Cooper, the Earl of Derby, Mr. Henry 



THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 237 

Doulton, Sir J. Whittaker Ellis, Mr. Samuel Morley and the 
Earl of Rosebery. This latter list indicated in a most marked 
manner the personal influence of the Prince of Wales. On 
May 3, 1886, the eve of the formal opening of the Exhibition 
was marked by a meeting of the Royal Commission at which 
the Prince presided, sketched the history and progress of an 
undertaking to which he had given much time and intimated 
that the guarantee fund now amounted to ,£218,000, of which 
the City of London had recently voted ,£10,000. In proposing 
a vote of thanks to the Royal chairman, seconded by Earl 
Granville, the Duke of Cambridge said : " It is not the first 
time that His Royal Highness has acted as President in under- 
takings of this nature, and it is very difficult for any person to 
praise him in his presence without appearing fulsome ; but it 
is not fulsome to say that he has always devoted his whole 
energies to bringing everything to a successful issue with 
which he is connected." 

OPENING AND SUCCESS OE THE EXHIBITION 

The Colonial and Indian Exhibition was opened on the 
following day at South Kensington by Her Majesty the Queen 
in the presence of an immense gathering, representative of all 
parts of the British realm. It was, in fact, the first of those 
great fetes with which the people became so familiar in the 
next two decades and which did so much to unify and typify 
the power of the Empire. In the brilliant throng surround- 
ing the Queen and the Prince of Wales, as the latter read an 
elaborate address of loyal welcome, were the members of the 
Government, the various Foreign Ambassadors, distinguished 
men in every walk of life, representatives of Colonies and 
British islands in all parts of the world — Lord Salisbury, Lord 
Rosebery, Lord Cranbrook, the Earl of Northbrook, the 
Dukes of Manchester, Buckingham and Abercorn, the Earl of 
Iddesleigh, Lord Granville, the Earl of Kimberley, Lord 



238 THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 

Napier of Magdala, Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach, Sir F. Leighton, 
Sir Charles Tupper and Mr. Hector Fabre from Canada, Sir 
Alexander Stuart, Sir Arthur Blyth, Sir Samuel Davenport, 
the Hon. James F. Garrick and the Hon. Malcolm Fraser, 
from Australia, Sir Lyon Playfair, Sir Richard Cross, Sir 
William Harcourt, Lord Wolseley, the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, Mr. H. C. E. Childers, the Maharajah of Johore, Rustem 
Pasha, Count Hatzfeldt, Earl Spencer, and many others. 
Madame Albani sang that splendid ode by Lord Tennyson 
beginning : 

' ' Welcome, welcome with one voice 

In your welfare we rejoice, 

Sons and brothers that have sent, 

From isle and cape and continent 

Produce of your field and flood, 

Mount and mine and primal wood, 

Works of subtle brain and hand 

And splendours of the Morning L,and, 

Gifts from every British zone 

Britons, hold your own !" 

The National Anthem was first sung in English and then in 
Sanskrit as a compliment to the Indian visitors. The address 
read by the Prince of Wales referred to the origin and pro- 
gress of the project, to the development of the Colonies, to 
the late Prince Consort's interest in Exhibitions and to his own 
position as President of the present Royal Commission, and 
concluded as follows : " It is our heartfelt prayer that an 
undertaking intended to illustrate and record this development 
may give a stimulus to the commercial interests and intercourse 
of all parts of Your Majesty's dominions ; that it may be the 
means of augmenting that warm affection and brotherly sym- 
pathy which is reciprocated by all Your Majesty's subjects ; 
and that it may still further deepen that steadfast loyalty which 
we, who dwell in the Mother Country, share with our kindred 
who have elsewhere so nobly done honour to her name." The 



THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 239 

Queen's reply expressed an earnest hope that the Exhibition 
would encourage the arts of peace and industry and strengthen 
the bonds of union within the Empire. An interesting feature 
of the proceedings was the receipt of a telegram from Sir 
Patrick Jennings, Premier of New South Wales, expressing 
that Colonial Government's "thanks and appreciation to His 
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for the profound interest " 
he had shown in the success of the great project now so 
auspiciously opened. The London Times on the following day 
spoke of the "energy and devotion" of the Prince in this 
connection, and the press as a whole at home and in the 
external Empire joined in congratulating him upon the issue. 

The Exhibition was a great success in every way. Over 
five and a half million visitors were recorded and the Queen 
helped, personally, to maintain public interest in it by herself 
visiting the various Sections repeatedly. The final meeting 
of the Royal Commission was held at Marlborough House on 
April 30th, 1897 an d tne Prince of Wales submitted an elabo- 
rate and exhaustive Report which was afterwards published. 
In his own remarks the President pointed out that the project 
had served its main purpose in very largely promoting knowl- 
edge of the Empire's resources and products and that, inci- 
dentally, its success had given the management a surplus of 
,£35,000. This sum, he suggested, should be largely devoted 
to the advancement of the project for a permanent Exhibition 
or Imperial Institute — "in the promotion of which the Queen 
and I both take' so warm an interest." Later in the evening- 
the Prince expressed the hope that as the late Exhibition had 
been, allegorically, burnt that day, "the Imperial Institute may 
be a Phcenix rising out of its ashes. I trust that it may be a 
lasting memorial not only of that but of the Jubilee of Her 
Majesty the Queen." Of the sum mentioned, ^25,000 was 
accordingly voted to the new project. 



2 4 o THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 

The proposal of the Heir Apparent — as first expressed in 
a letter to the Lord Mayor on September 13, 1886 — was that 
the idea evolved in the Exhibition should be made permanent 
and be embodied in an Imperial Institute which should be at 
once a visible emblem of the unity of the Empire, a place for 
illustrating its vast resources, a museum for exhibiting its varied 
and changing products and industries, a centre of information 
and communication for all British countries, an aid to the 
increase and distribution of national wealth, a medium for 
combining in joint co-operation older and smaller institutions 
of tried utility, and a fitting national memorial of the Queen's 
Jubilee. The movement developed steadily and, on January 
1 2th, 1887, a gathering was held at Kensington Palace, upon 
invitation of the Prince of Wales, and was one of the most 
representative over which even he had ever presided. Amongst 
those present were Lord Herschell, Chairman of the Organ- 
izing Committee, the Earl of Carnarvon, Lord Revelstoke, 
Lord Rothschild, Sir Lyon Playfair, Sir H. T. Holland, Sir 
John Rose, Sir Henry James, the Right Hon. H. H. Fowler, 
Sir Frederick Leighton, Sir Charles Tupper, Sir Saul Samuel, 
Sir Edward Guinness, Sir Ashley Eden, Sir Owen T. Bourne, 
Sir Reginald Hanson, Lord Mayor of London, Mr. J. H. 
Tritton, Chairman of the London Chamber of Commerce, Mr. 
Pattison Currie, Chairman of the Bank of England, Sir Fred- 
erick Abel, Mr. Neville Lubbock, Lord Campden, the Lord 
Provost of Edinburgh, the Lord Mayor of York, the Mayor 
of Newcastle and nearly two hundred other mayors, or chief 
magistrates, of British towns. 

The Prince of Wales was accompanied by Prince Albert 
Victor and spoke at length upon the objects to be served and 
the progress already made in the matter which he had so 
much at heart. "It occured to me that the recent Colonial 
and Indian Exhibition, which presented a most successful dis- 
play of the material resources of the Colonies and India, might 



THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 241 

suggest the basis for an Institute which should afford a perma- 
nent representation of the products and manufactures of the 
Queen's dominions. I, therefore, appointed a Committee of 
eminent men to consider and report to me upon the best means 
of carrying out this idea." So much for the initiation of the 
scheme. The Report had been duly submitted and accepted 
and he now invited co-operation and assistance in establishing 
and maintaining the proposed " Imperial Institute of the 
United Kingdom, the Colonies and India." His Royal High- 
ness pointed out that no less than sixteen million persons had 
attended the four Exhibitions over which he had presided — the 
Fisheries, Healtheries, Inventories and Colinderies, as they 
were popularly called — and expressed the strong belief that 
they had added greatly to the knowledge of the people and 
largely stimulated the industries of the country. 

INITIATION OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE 

" My proposals are that the Imperial Institute be an em- 
blem of the unity of the Empire and illustrate the resources 
and capabilities of every section of Her Majesty's dominions." 
The Colonies and Motherland would thus teach other and 
emigration would also be greatly aided along British channels. 
He believed that the work upon which he had entered in this 
connection would be of lasting benefit to this and future gen- 
erations and, after a careful review of the whole situation, 
declared that " from the close relation in which I stand to the 
Queen there can be no impropriety in my stating that if her 
subjects desire, on the occasion of the celebration of her fiftieth 
year as Sovereign of this great Empire, to offer her a memorial 
of their love and loyalty, she would specially value one which 
would promote the industrial and commercial resources of her 
dominions in various parts of the world and which would be 
expressive of that unity and co-operation which Her Majesty 
16 



242 THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 

desires should prevail amidst all classes and races of her 
extended Empire." 

A public meeting at the Mansion House followed with 
the Lord Mayor in the chair and was addressed by Earl Gran- 
ville, Mr. A. J. Mundella, Mr. G. J. Goschen, and others. 
Strong resolutions of support and approval were passed, many 
telegrams of sympathy with the object announced, and a state- 
ment of initial subscriptions given which included the names 
of Lord Rothschild, Sir W. J. Clarke of Australia and Lord 
Revelstoke. During the next six years the project was stead- 
ily pressed forward ; large individual subscriptions obtained by 
the personal influence of the Prince of Wales, supplemented 
by the growing sympathy with the Colonies and with Empire 
unity ; while grants were given by the British, Indian and 
Colonial Governments. Gradually, the splendid building in 
South Kensington, known over the world as the Imperial In- 
stitute, approached completion and, on May 9th, 1893, was 
opened by the Queen amidst stately ceremonial and all the 
trappings of regal magnificence. Nearly all the Royal family 
were present and, in the progress through the streets, a particu- 
larly enthusiastic reception was given to the Duke of York 
and Princess May of Teck whose engagement had been very 
recently announced. Around Her Majesty and the Prince of 
Wales, as the latter presented the address of the Committee, 
were ranged the most representative men of England, many 
Ambassadors, and Indian Princes and Colonial statesmen. 
Lord Salisbury, Mr. A. J. Balfour, Mr. H. H. Asquith, Sir 
William Harcourt, Lord Rosebery and Lord Randolph 
Churchill were there, but not Mr. Gladstone. After a brief 
description, in the address, of the objects and history of the 
Institute, the Prince continued as follows: "We venture to 
express a confident anticipation that the Imperial Institute 
will not only be a record of the growth of the Empire and 
of the marvellous advance of its people in industrial and 



THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 243 

commercial prosperity during Your Majesty's reign but will, also, 
tend to increase that prosperity by stimulating enterprise and 
promoting the technical and scientific knowledge which is now 
so essential to industrial development." After some brief 
words from Her Majesty the great building was declared open 
and another important project initiated by the Prince of Wales 
had reached completion. The London Times of the succeed- 
ing day referred with accuracy, in this connection, to his 
"clear-sighted initiative and untiring energy" and a member 
of the Executive Committee, which had the enterprise in hand, 
wrote to the same paper that during the past six years " every 
important step in connection with the Institute has been taken 
under the immediate direction of the Prince of Wales. By 
his energy men have been moved to action, and difficulties ap- 
parently insuperable have been overcome. The result of 
years of devoted labour was accomplished to-day." 

EARLY ADVOCACY OF IMPERIALISM 

These were the two chief products of what may be called 
the Empire statesmanship of the Prince of Wales. Long be- 
fore either of them were undertaken, however, he had shown 
a deep and sincere interest in the unity of the Empire — a nat- 
ural outcome of his training, his travels, his individual abilities. 
For many years he acted as President of the Royal Colonial 
Institute, accepting the position at a time when people were 
only beginning to awake to the fact that Great Britain was 
more than an Island and sea-power and when the Institute 
was the rallying ground and centre for a small group of men 
like the late Duke of Manchester, Lord Bury, Mr. W. E. 
Forster and Sir Frederick Young, who devoted much energy 
and enthusiasm to the promotion of what long afterwards be- 
came known as Imperialism. The patronage and support of 
His Royal Highness did very much to give the movement, in 
its earlier days, a place and an influence and to establish the 



244 THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 

Institute as the factor which history has since recognized it to 
have been. It was in this connection, on July 16th, 188-1, that 
the Lord Mayor of London — Sir William McArthur M. P. — 
entertained the Prince of Wales at a banquet attended by 
many repesentatives of the Colonies and distinguished guests. 
In his speech the Prince referred with extreme regret to his 
not having been able to visit all the Colonies, and especially, 
Australia. He had greatly desired to accept the invitation 
extended to him two years before to visit the Exhibitions at 
Sydney and Melbourne. " Though, my Lords and gentle- 
men I have not had the opportunity of seeing those great 
Australian Colonies, which every day and every year are mak- 
ing such immense development, still, at the International Ex- 
hibitions of London, Paris and Vienna, I had not only an 
opportunity of seeing their various products then exhibited, 
but I had the pleasure of making the personal acquaintance of 
many Colonists — a fact which has been a matter of great im- 
portance and great benefit to myself ". 

A further reference was made to the sending of his sons 
to visit Australia and memories of his own tour of British 
America were revived, with an expression of special gratifica- 
tion at seeing his " old friend," Sir John Macdonald, Prime 
Minister of Canada, present on this occasion. In August, 
1887, the Prince of Wales showed further and practical inter- 
est in Australia by accepting the post of President of the 
Royal Commission appointed by the Queen, in England, to 
promote and help the Melbourne Exhibition of 1888. The 
Earl of Rosebery acted as Vice-President and much was done 
in making the British exhibit a good one. Years before this, 
speaking at the laying of the foundation stone of the first 
Melbourne Exhibition — February 19th, 1879 — the Governor of 
Victoria, Sir George F. Bowen, declared it to be well-known 
that the Heir Apparent was animated by " a desire to visit 
the Australian Colonies in person should high reasons of state 




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THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 245 

permit." As illustrating the opinions formed of him by colo- 
nial statesmen, the following may be quoted from the autobi- 
ography of that uncouth, clever, patriotic personality, Sir 
Henry Parkes : " I met His Royal Highness on several occasions 
in London, and he struck me as possessing in a remark- 
able degree the princely faculty of doing the right thing and 
saying the right word." 

Another matter to which the Prince of Wales gave an 
Imperial character was the Royal College of Music which he 
initiated, organized and finally inaugurated on May 7th, 1883. 
Upon the latter occasion he explained in his speech that the 
institution was open to the whole Empire, that scholarships 
had already been provided by Victoria and South Australia, 
and that he hoped it might become an Imperial centre of 
musical education as well as a British centre. " The object I 
have in view is essentially Imperial as well as national, and I 
trust that ere long there will be no Colony of any importance 
which is not represented by a scholar at the Royal College." 
During the years which followed, up to the time of his 
accession to the Throne, the interest of the Prince of Wales 
in everything that helped Imperial unity was continous and 
most earnest. At the Jubilee periods of 1887 an d 1897, ne 
entertained many Colonial statesmen, as he had done at other 
times when opportunity served, and he was always delighted to 
meet them and to discuss the affairs of their countries with men 
who naturally knew them best. It was a process of mental 
equipment for the government of avast empire which, in addi- 
tion to his early travels, must have made the experience and 
knowledge of Queen Victoria's successor as uniqne as were 
the conditions and greatness of his Empire. 

During the last Jubilee the Prince presided, on June 18th, 
as President of the Imperial Institute, at a banquet given to 
the Colonial Premiers and other representatives in London. 
Upon his right sat Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Premier of Canada, 



246 THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 

and upon his left Mr. Whitelaw Reid, the special Envoy of 
the United States. Amongst others present were Lord Salis- 
bury, Sir Hugh Nelson, Premier of Queensland, the Marquess 
of Lansdowne, Lord Rosebery and Mr. Chamberlain — all of 
whom spoke; while Lord Ripon, Lord Dufferin, Lord Kim- 
berley, the Marquess of Lome, Sir W. V. Whiteway, Premier 
of Newfoundland, Lord Rothschild, Sir Donald Smith (Lord 
Strathcona) the Archbishop of Canterbury and a splendid 
array of other representative men in Church and State, army 
and navy, art and science and literature, were also present. In 
one of his tactful speeches on this occasion, His Royal High- 
ness referred to the enormous growth of the Colonies during 
the Queen's record reign and expressed the hope that present 
peaceful conditions might long continue. " God grant it," he 
added, "but if the national flag is threatened I am convinced 
that all the Colonies will unite to maintain what exists and to 
preserve the unity of the Empire." In little more than a year 
these words were fully borne out by events. 

But the Prince of Wales was never content to make mere 
speeches in advocacy of a principle. His aid to the Royal 
Colonial Institute and organization of the Imperial Institute 
were cases in point. When the Imperial Federation League 
was formed he could only help its aims indirectly because there 
were political possibilities in its platform, but when, in 1896, 
the British Empire League succeeded to its place and mission, 
with a broader and more general platform, the Queen and the 
Prince extended their patronage to the organization. On 
April 30, 1900, a great banquet was given under its auspices to 
welcome the Australian Delegates who had gone " home " to 
discuss the Commonwealth Act, and to recognize the services 
rendered by Colonial troops in the South African war. The 
Duke of Devonshire occupied the chair, with the Prince of 
Wales and the Duke of York on either hand, and next to 
them again the Dukes of Cambridge and Fife. The Marquess 



THE PRINCE AS AN EMPIRE STATESMAN 247 

of Salisbury, Lieutenant Colonel George T. Denison, Presi- 
dent of the League in Canada, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Edmund 
Barton of Australia and Mr. J. Israel Tarte of Canada were 
amongst the speakers, and others present included the Right 
Hon. C. C. Kingston, the Hon. Alfred Deakin, the Hon. J. 
R. Dickson, Sir John Cockburn and Sir James Blyth of 
Australia, the Earl of Hopetoun, Lord Lansdowne, Lord 
Wolseley, Lord Knutsford, Lord Strathcona, the Earl of 
Onslow, the Earl of Jersey, the Earl of Crewe, Lord Kelvin 
and Earl Grey. The Prince of Wales was enthusiastically 
received and congratulated upon his recent escape from assas- 
sination at Brussels. After some eloquently appropriate 
remarks upon this point, he welcomed the Australians in 
kindly words and then referred to the war. "We little doubt," 
he went on, " that in a great war like the one we are now 
waging we should have at any rate the sympathy of our 
Colonies ; but it has exceeded even our expectations. We 
know now the feeling that existed in our Colonies and that 
they have sent their best material, their best blood and man- 
hood, to fight with us, side by side, for the honour of the flag 
and for the maintenance of our Empire." Such words may 
fittingly conclude a brief record of the Prince of Wales' 
interest in Empire affairs up to the time of his accession to the 
Throne. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

The Prince as Heir Apparent. 

T"^HE Heir to a Throne such as that of Great Britain has 
an exceptionally difficult place to fill. He has to have 
the broad sympathies and knowledge and training of a 
statesman without the right to express himself upon any of the 
political problems and issues of his time ; he has to live in a 
never-ending blaze of publicity and be liable to unscrupulous, 
or too scrupulous, criticism without the power of direct reply ; 
he has, perhaps, to suffer in private life and character from the 
caustic shafts of men at home or abroad who do not like the 
institution which he represents; he has to officiate in a cease- 
less round of functions and public ceremonial ; he has to travel 
constantly from Court to Court in Europe and, in the case of 
the Prince of Wales, he had to act for several decades the 
part of the Sovereign in public life without the resources or 
responsibilities which the actual ruler would naturally possess. 
There are, of course, important compensations. He has 
the foremost place in every leading national event, the priv- 
ilege of knowing as intimately as he pleases the great men of 
his own and other countries, in every line of statecraft and 
human attainment, the pleasure of travel in many lands and 
amongst varied scenes and people, the opportunity of taking up 
any matter of a non-political character which he deems useful 
to the state, the people, or the Empire, with a reasonable 
certainty of substantial backing. To succeed, however, in the 
position as did Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, demands a 
peculiar combination of qualities which very few men possess 
248 



THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 249 

in any rank of life. Tact, self-restraint, self-reliance, knowl- 
edge of human nature, energy, dignity, good intentions 
earnest patriotism, are more or less necessary. 

How seldom these qualities have all been possessed by 
Heirs to the British Throne is plain upon the pages of history. 
There have been amongst them seventeen Princes of Wales' 
of whom the best, before the chief of the line, was the Black 
Prince, and of whom only four have reached the Throne since 
the time of Edward VI. They were Charles I, Charles II, 
George II. and George IV., and the careers of the last two 
consisted in the establishment of rival Courts, continuous disa- 
greements with their fathers, the headship of political factions, 
and the possession of characters about which the least said 
the better. The Prince who became Edward VII. may be 
said to have created the position of Heir Apparent, as his 
Royal mother created that of a modern constitutional Monarch. 

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE POSITION 

He established himself as a sort of advisory statesman to 
the nation, an absolutely impartial leader in questions of high, 
as distinct from party politics, the first gentleman in the 
land in society, sports and manners, the leader of philan- 
thropic projects and social reforms. He became the busiest 
man in England, the most popular personality in the three 
kingdoms, the head and front of many important public 
undertakings. Such a development was new to British insti- 
tutions, but it came about so gradually that only when he 
ascended the Throne did people fully realize how large a place 
the Prince of Wales had held in public affairs as well as in 
their affections. Mr. Chauncey M. Depew, the eloquent 
American Senator, expressed the personal side of the matter 
very well when he said, with some surprise, after first meeting 
His Royal Highness : " I met a thoughtful dignitary filling to 
the brim the requirements of his exalted position. In fact, a 



2jo THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 

practical as well as a theoretical student of the mighty forces 
which control the government of all great countries and make 
their best history." 

There were many sides to this career, and in some of them 
the Prince never received the credit which he deserved. One 
was the essentially business-like management of his financial 
affairs. From the time of attaining his majority the Heir 
Apparent received ,£40,000 a year by grant of Parliament ; 
at his marriage a special grant of ,£10,000 was given the Prin- 
cess of Wales ; when their children grew up the Prince was 
given ,£36,000 to apportion amongst them as he saw fit. 
During his minority the wise management of the revenues of 
the Duchy of Cornwall — which is an hereditary appurtenance 
of the Prince of Wales — by the late Prince Consort, gave the 
Heir Apparent a total of ,£600,000, of which ,£220,000 were 
expended upon the purchase of Sandringham, and a consider- 
able sum upon improvements there. On the Prince's marriage 
he was voted ,£23,455 to defray expenses and his allowance 
for the Indian tour of 1875 was ,£^4 2 > 000 > of which ,£69,000 
was for presents. Marlborough House was given him by the 
nation, though he paid taxes upon it like any other citizen. The 
Duchy of Cornwall was so well managed after it came under 
his control that it yielded in 1897 a total income of nearly 
,£74,000, or almost double the value of the returns received 
forty years before. Birk Hall, an estate inherited from the 
Prince Consort, was sold to the Queen for ,£120,000. The 
total public income of the Prince of Wales during many years 
was about ,£180,000, or nearly a million dollars, and the man- 
agement of his finances was always careful. The stories of 
extravagance and indebtedness were absolutely without foun- 
dation. Yet these tales of poverty were always widespread 
and were probably believed by many millions of people. 

The truth is that he was a first-rate business man in 
money affairs, knew how to make his income go to its furthest 



THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 251 

extent, and had an established system on his estates and in his 
palaces which combined comfort and luxury with judicious 
economy. A few words upon this point may be quoted, in 
passing, from an article in the well-known Ladies Home Journal 
of Philadelphia, written in July, 1897, by Mr. George W. 
Smalley, an American critic of authority who lived in London 
for many years : "It is not a subject which I care to touch 
upon, but I may refer to the stories about the Prince of 
Wales' financial position. It is a matter with which the 
American public has absotutely no concern. Nevertheless all 
sorts of stories are printed here about his debts to this person 
or that. Such stories were circulated when Baron Hirsch 
died — so circumstantial that they must have either been based 
upon minute knowledge or have been pure fabrications. They 
were not based upon knowledge, minute or otherwise, because 
they were not true." These stories were rendered more absurd 
by the fact that a rough calculation of his receipts during forty 
years of public life would indicate a sum of between thirty and 
forty millions of dollars. 

CHARITIES OF THE PRINCE 

Of course the expenses of the Heir Apparent were very 
great even when those are excepted which the nation paid. 
His personal gifts to benevolent institutions, educational con- 
cerns, religious interests, objects of social, moral and physical 
improvement, hospitals and infirmaries, asylums, orphanages, 
commercial and agricultural organizations, the relief of chil- 
dren and foreigners in distress, deaf and dumb and blind 
institutions, memorials and statues, Indian famines, war funds, 
calamity funds of various kinds at home, in the Colonies, and 
abroad, have been reckoned by an English student of statis- 
tics at ^3,200 a year, or ^128,000 in forty years — $640,000 
spent in response to public appeals alone without reference to 
the many private charities about which little was known except 



252 THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 

that a very large amount of assistance was given yearly by the 
Prince and Princess in response to all kinds of private and 
authenticated requests. In this general connection Mr. Glad- 
stone, when Prime Minister, spoke very warmly during the 
Parliamentary discussion of 1889 upon the Royal grants of that 
year. " It will be admitted," he said in the course of his 
somewhat famous speech, " that circumstances have tended to 
throw upon the Prince of Wales an amount of public work in 
connection with institutions as well as with ceremonials, which 
was larger than could reasonably have been expected, and 
with regard to which every call has been honourably and 
devotedly met from a sense of public duty." 

Reference has been made in the preceding pages to the 
infinitely varied public functions of His Royal Highness and 
the aid thus given to charities and benevolent objects. A few 
instances only were quoted in which many thousands of pounds 
were obtained for worthy objects through his patronage. 
The fact is that the Heir Apparent gave his position a rather 
unique characteristic in this respect by becoming a sort of 
Grand Almoner of the nation. Almost any charity which he 
patronized or which the Princess supported with his approval, 
became a success, and it is probable that every thousand 
pounds which he gave away became a hundred thousand 
pounds through the prestige of his example and his often 
vio-orous and effective personal exertions. One of the inter- 
ests to which he was most devoted was that of the London 
and other hospitals. Attendance at the festivals, or annual 
dinners, was frequent, and the consequent subscription to their 
funds from time to time considerable. During the Diamond 
Jubilee the Prince thought he saw in this cause a way to fittingly 
commemorate that great event — as he had already marked 
that of 1887 by the Imperial Institute. 

Under date of February 5th, 1897, therefore, an elaborate 
statement and earnest appeal appeared in the London Times 




ALBERT, PRINCE CONSORT, THE FATHER OF EDWARD VII 

From a painting by F. Winterhalter. 




THE CORONATION CHAIR 

Containing the Stone cf Scone on which traditional Irish Kings, Scotch Rings and 

British Kings have been crowned. 



THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 253 

and other great papers signed by the Prince of Wales, and 
asking for organized help in making up the existing deficits 
of ,£100,000 in London hospitals. The Royal writer pointed 
out that the efforts of individual institutions, praiseworthy as 
they had been, failed to obtain more than a small number of 
subscriptions from the great population of the metropolis ; 
that the reasons for this was partly the difficulty of choosing 
amongst so many useful charities, partly the lack of definite 
opportunity for giving annual subscriptions to the cause as a 
whole, partly a feeling that small sums were not worth contrib- 
uting ; that it was proposed to establish this " Prince of Wales 
Hospital Fund " in order to commemorate the 60th anniver- 
sary of the Queen's reign by obtaining permanent annual sub- 
scriptions of from £"100,000 to ,£150,000. He also announced 
that Lord Rothschild had accepted the post of Treasurer, that 
a commencement in subscriptions had been made, and that the 
Lord Mayor had promised his active assistance. 

The success of the movement thus inaugurated by the 
Heir Apparent was pronounced. The annual Report of the 
Council of the Fund, which was issued on May 2nd, 1899, 
stated that during the past two years ,£89,000 had been 
distributed, and that the hospitals had been enabled to re-open 
and maintain two hundred and forty-two beds. It had, how- 
ever, not come up yet to the requirements and, on March 1st, 
of this year, the Prince made another effort to help the hospi- 
tals. He called a large and representative meeting at Marl- 
borough House, and placed before it a plan for the establish- 
ment of an Order to be called the League of Mercy. Its object 
would be to reach locally persons who did not subscribe to 
minor Funds, or individual institutions, and to do this by 
offering an honour in the form of this decoration, ''as a reward 
for gratuitous personal services rendered in the relief of sick- 
ness, suffering, poverty or distress." These services would be 
apart, altogether, from gifts of money, (although the latter 



254 THE PRINCE A $ HEIR APPARENT 

would be gladly accepted) and must be continued during five 
years. The Queen was to be head of the Order and the Heir 
Apparent its Grand President. All names were to be submit- 
ted to Her Majesty and the honour itself was not to confer 
any rank, dignity or social precedence. The plan was approved, 
and its success marked despite some caustic and unjust criti- 
cisms in certain Radical papers. On December ist (1899), 
following, the annual meeting of the Hospital Fund was held at 
Marlborough House, with His Royal Highness in the chair, and 
attended by Lord Rowton, Lord Iveagh, Cardinal Vaughan, 
Lord Lister, Lord Reay, the Chief Rabbi and others. Lord 
Rothschild submitted a statement which showed the year's 
receipts to be ,£47,000, the first distribution from the League 
of Mercy to be ,£1,000, and the total amount of the Fund to 
be ,£217,000. The meeting of December 18th, in the following 
year, showed receipts of ,£49,468; of which ,£6,000 came from 
the League of Mercy. In his speech upon this occasion Lord 
Rothschild heartily congratulated the Royal chairman upon 
his "wisdom and foresight" in forming this League. In 
passing, it maybe said that Grey's Hospital, London, was one 
of the individual institutions which the Prince undertook per- 
sonally to help, and at one special banquet, at which he presided 
for this purpose, he was enabled to announce total subscrip- 
tions to the extraordinary amount of ,£151,000. 

THE PRINCE AND THE WORKINGMEN 

There was no part of his public career more creditable to 
! the Prince of Wales than his sincere, unforced friendship and 
sympathy with the workingman. Like his philanthropic, work, 
it was the natural product of a generous disposition, and won 
the honest liking of men who had always looked with suspi- 
cion upon aristocratic, to say nothing of Royal, efforts in their 
behalf. This was another illustration of the difference between 
Heirs Apparent to the Throne. Imagination fails to grasp 



THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 233 

the thought of the Stuarts or the Georges, when holding that 
position, trying to help the poor or uplift the labourer ! 
Speaking at a meeting in London on January 12th, 1887, 
Lord Mayor, Sir Reginald Hanson, said : " All those who 
have been engaged in this scheme (the Imperial Institute) 
know that the Prince of Wales is one of the first in this coun- 
try who looks to the interests of the working classes." For 
many years, indeed, he had been an annual subscriber to the 
Working-men's Club and Institute Union and to the Work- 
ingmen's College in Great Ormond Street. In the Alexandra 
Trust, founded by Sir Thomas Lipton, at the instance of the 
Princess, much interest was taken by the Heir Apparent as 
well as his wife, and, on March 15th, 1900, they privately and 
unexpectedly visited the Restaurant in City Road and inspected 
this praiseworthy effort to supply wholesome food at low 
prices to the poor. After walking about and speaking to 
many of the people, they enjoyed a "three-course dinner" 
costing four pence half-penny, and left amid a scene of great 
enthusiasm. 

More than once the Prince aided workingmen's institu- 
tions by visiting them. On one occasion he heard that an 
Exhibition in South London, promoted by workingmen, was 
languishing for want of patronage and at once arranged to visit 
it unofficially. He went through it carefully, buying a number 
of articles and expressing much interest in the project. There 
was no further neglect of the institution by the general public. 
There was, perhaps, no single work in which he more appre- 
ciated the opportunity of doing good than that connected with 
the Housing of the Poor Commission to which he was appointed 
in 1884. He more than once presided at its meetings and 
took an active part in the investigations which were necessary. 
He attended every sitting and studied quietly and privately 
the whole condition of the poor in the poorest quarters of 
London and other cities. The Prince never hesitated to 



256 THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 

criticize those who neglected their charitable duties, or to 
praise those who lived up to the level of their opportunities, 
and in connection with an institution which he opened at Dept- 
ford, in 1898, his condemnation of the wealthy people in that 
neighbourhood was severe. 

On March 4th, 1900, the working-class dwellings built in 
Shoreditch by the City Council were opened by the Prince of. 
Wales. They were largely the product of the Royal Com- 
mission in which he had taken such interest and whose pro- 
posals were the basis of so much progress in this direction. His 
Royal Highness was accompanied on this occasion by the 
Princess and Lord Suffield and was surrounded on the plat- 
form by Lord Welby, the Earl of Rosebery, the Bishops of 
London and Stepney, the Earl and Countess Carrington and 
others. In his speech the Prince was expressive and vigorous 
upon the necessity of better housing for the poor. " I am 
satisfied, not only that the public conscience is awakened on 
the subject but that the public demands, and will demand, 
vigorous action in cleansing the slums which disgrace our 
civilization and the erection of good and wholesome dwellings 
such as those around us, and in meeting the difficulties of 
providing house-room for the working-classes, at reasonable 
rates, by easy and cheap carriage to not distant districts where 
rents are reasonable." He concluded an elaborate speech upon 
the question generally by expressing the hope that the Legis- 
lature would deal with and punish those who were responsible 
for insanitary property. Speaking at a banquet of the London 
County Council on December 3rd of the same year, the Prince 
again urged attention to the improvement of dwellings in 
various city areas. A part of this generous desire to aid the 
poor was the Princess of Wales' dinner to three hundred 
thousand persons in London at the Jubilee of 1897. Contri- 
butions poured in unceasingly to the project and amongst others 
was the gift of twenty thousand sheep from the pastoralists 



THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 257 

of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The organi- 
zation of the dinner was in the hands of the Lord Mayor of 
London and it proved a great success. 

The gifts of a statesman were cultivated by the Prince of 
Wales upon every proper opportunity. His Empire unity 
ideas and projects were abundant evidence of this while a not 
less distinct proof of statecraft was the apparent absence of 
it — the absolute non-partisan position of the Heir Apparent. 
No one was ever able to say that he held political views of any 
particular type. His delicate tact was particularly shown in 
his kindness and courtesy to Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone. When 
the aged statesman finally retired from politics the Prince 
visited him again at Hawarden Castle and was photographed 
in a family group. He and the Princess attended his funeral 
and showed the greatest respect for his memory and services. 
When the time came, in 1900, for Mrs. Gladstone to be laid 
beside her husband in Westminster Abbey one of the incidents 
of a sad occasion was the wreath sent in by their Royal High- 
nesses with the following inscription : 

In Memory of Dear Mrs. Gladstone. 

" It is but crossing with abated breath 
And with set face, a little strip of sea, 
To find the loved ones waiting on the shore 
More beautiful, more precious than before." 

In preparing a national memorial to the eminent Liberal 
leader the Prince of Wales accepted the post of President of 
the General Committee with the Duke of Westminster as 
Chairman of the Executive. With Mr. Cecil Rhodes, he was 
long upon terms of intimacy and never concealed his admira- 
tion for the great Imperialist's career and objects. There can 
be no doubt that he knew much of South African affairs and 
was instrumental in the Duke of Fife taking a place on the 
Directorate of the South African Chartered Company. The 
17 



258 THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 

only occasion upon which the Prince ever withdrew from a 
prominent Club was his retirement from the Traveller's because 
they had black-balled Mr. Rhodes. Not the smallest evidence 
of statecraft which the Prince of Wales showed, in a semi- 
personal way, was his warm sympathy with the emancipation of 
the Jews and his belief in their absorption into the life and 
interests of England. His presence at the marriage of Mr. 
Leopold de Rothschild caused, long since, a sensation in Jewish 
circles but it was only the first of many compliments which the 
Heir Apparent bestowed upon the "chosen people" up to the 
days when one of them became Prime Minister and a daughter 
of the House of Rothschild married a future Premier — the 
Earl of Rosebery. The late Baron Hirsch, the present Lord 
Rothschild, Sir Reuben Sassoon and Sir Moses Montefiore 
were amongst his personal friends and he made a thorough 
study of the position of the Russian Jews — showing them 
practical sympathy in various indirect ways. Of course, this 
partiality was open to misconstruction and the rumour of 
indebtedness to Jewish financial interests was so prevalent 
at one time that Sir Francis Knollys had to write a corres- 
pondent, who directly asked the question, an official statement 
as Private Secretary to the Prince, that the latter had no debts 
worth speaking of and could pay every farthing he owed at a 
moment's notice. 

There is no question, however, that this friendship with a 
powerful financial class, ruling great interests in every nation, 
gave the Prince of Wales a much enhanced influence abroad. 
In the same way his obvious liking for American men and 
women of standing and ability was marked and did undoubted 
service in promoting good feeling between the two countries — 
where it was not grossly and untruthfully misrepresented by 
sensational journals. Really distinguished visitors from the 
United States, whether rich or poor, always found a welcome 
at the hands of His Royal Highness and amongst those whom 



THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 259 

he appears to have especially liked were James Russell Lowell, 
Thomas F. Bayard, Whitelaw Reid and Chauncey M. Depew. 
American women who have been absorbed into English life 
and society like Lady Harcourt, Mrs. Chamberlain and the 
Duchess of Marlborough were always treated with marked cour- 
tesy by both the Princess and himself. His visit to the United 
States in i860 had also taught him something of conditions 
there which those around him were not always fully aware of. 
Hence the value of the message which was sent to the New 
York World in the name of the Prince of Wales and the Duke 
of York during the Venezuelan crisis. If it be true that a 
private letter, a word spoken in season, or a brief drawing- 
room conversation, is often more influential than a cloud of 
newspaper writing, then the Prince of Wales was for years a 
potent force in promoting good-will between the Empire and 
the Republic. 

As a diplomatist there can be no doubt of the Heir 
Apparent's influence. He succeeded, in fact, to much of the 
power held in that respect by the Prince Consort. It was the 
post of an unofficial and secret personal mediator between the 
Sovereign of Great Britain and those of other countries. 
Thoroughly acquainted with the personality of foreign rulers, 
related to the majority of those in Europe, knowing their 
degrees of national influence and personal power, familiar 
with the statesmen's position in Court and Legislature, asso- 
ciated more and more closely as the years went on with Queen 
Victoria's personal view of foreign policy, the Prince's position 
was one of very great indirect power. Through his heirship 
to the British throne he was naturally upon terms of some- 
thing like equality with those whom he met as rulers at Berlin 
or St. Petersburg, at Paris or Vienna, and more in sympathy 
with their point of view than men of less than Royal rank. 
To quote Mr. George W. Smalley in McClures Magazine of 
March, 1901 : " His is a strange nature. He has, very fully 



2 6o THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 

and strongly, the pride of Kings and what the pride of Kings 
is, a republican who has lived all his life in a republic can 
hardly conceive. He has behind him, moreover, the loyalty of 
an expectant nation." Upon the other hand he knew more 
about the people and was more of them than any other heredi- 
tary ruler or prospective ruler in the world. Hence the 
strength of his position when conferring with a German 
Emperor, or a Russian Czar, or talking quietly with some 
Foreign Minister at a time of crisis. 

INCIDENTS OF DIPLOMATIC INFLUENCE 

This personal influence of the Heir Apparent was a factor 
often ignored. "Again and again," says Mr. Smalley, from 
the point of view of one who watched for years at the source 
of power in London, " the Prince has gone abroad as — in 
effect, though of course never in name — an Ambassador from 
the Queen to some Sovereign on the Continent. He has laid 
her views at some critical moments before the German 
Emperor and carried home the Emperor's response." This 
sort of personal intercourse must, many a time, have solved 
vital and serious issues. When William II. visited Windsor 
in 1899 and the Queen, with the aid of the Prince of Wales, 
Lord Salisbury and Mr. Chamberlain, evolved the terms upon 
which the countries were to stand in regard to the coming 
South African war, can there be any doubt as to the place in 
these negotiations which the Heir Apparent held, or as to the 
advantage which his many earlier visits to Berlin in the days 
of Bismarck and the Kaiser's initiatory years of rule, must 
have been to him ? The result of this intercourse was, in the 
end, the turning of a possible national enemy into a friend ; the 
change of the Emperor who wrote the famous Transvaal 
cablegram into the ruler who took the first train and boat to 
Windsor and bowed his head at the deathbed of Queen 
Victoria. 



THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 261 

Another interesting- incident in this connection may be 
found in the friendship known to have existed between the 
Prince of Wales and the Czar of Russia. Nicholas II. bore 
the same relationship of nephew to him that was borne by Wil- 
liam II. and, like the other Imperial ruler, came to bear a 
similar feeling of respect and regard for his uncle — sentiments 
i not always felt between relations, royal or otherwise. It was 
on August 31st, 1894, that the Princess of Wales received a 
despatch from her sister, the Czarina, that Alexander III. 
was nearing his end in the far-away Palace of Livadia. As 
rapidly as train and ship could carry them the Royal couple 
travelled to Russia, but only in time for the prolonged and 
splendid ceremonial of a state funeral. In this great and 
solemn pageant, lasting a week, and extending from Livadia 
to St. Petersburg, the Czar and the Prince were constantly 
together, in the most intimate relations, at a moment when the 
former was just emerging — as yet a young and inexperienced 
man — into the responsibilities of perhaps the most difficult 
position in the world. It was little wonder if the youthful 
autocrat of ninety millions took counsel of his experienced and 
genial relative, and found in his society comfort and knowl- 
edge and the basis of a lasting friendship. Let Mr. W. T. 
Stead in the Revieiv of Reviezvs, of January, 1895, describe 
the situation : 

It was fortunate for every one that he stood where he did, as no 
one outside the Royal Castle could have been to the young Czar what the 
Prince was at Livadia, and afterwards. In the long and almost terrible 
pilgrimage to the tomb which followed, when the corpse of the dead Czar 
was carried in solemn state from the shores of the Black Sea to the tomb 
in the Cathedral that stands on the frozen Neva, the Prince was always at 
the right hand of the Czar. Alike in public or in private, the uncle and the 
nephew stood side by side. After the first gush of grief had passed, it was 
impossible but that thoughts of the relations between the two Empires 
should not have crossed the minds of both. These two men share between 
them the over lordship of Asia. To the Czar, the north from the Ounil 



262 THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 

to the far Sagahlien ; to the other, the south from the Straits of Babel 
Mandeb to Hong Kong. No two men on this planet ever represented so 
vast a range of Imperial power as the first mourners at the bier of Alex- 
ander the Third. 

At St. Petersburg, the Duke of York joined the mourning 
group of Royal personages, and there, on November 26th, the 
young Czar was married to his cousin, Princess Alix of Hesse,* 
and a still closer tie of relationship formed with the Royal 
House of England. From this time forward the diplomatic 
relations of Russia and Great Britain steadily improved and 
there has never been any doubt amongst those in a position to 
judge that it was very largely due to the close friendship 
between the Prince of Wales and his Imperial nephew. In 
France, and especially amongst its leading men, His Royal 
Highness was for long an influential factor in keeping the 
wheels of international relations moving smoothly. Personally 
popular, his tactful course at critical periods helped greatly in 
maintaining official amity. The root of this wide-spread influ- 
ence and practical statecraft, in addition to elements already 
indicated and covering more directly the personal equation, 
was well described by Mr. Smalley in an article already 
quoted : " First of all, the impression of real force of charac- 
ter. Next, that combined shrewdness and good sense which 
together amount to sagacity. Third, tact. Add to these 
firmness and courage, and base all of these gifts on immense 
experience of life by one who has touched it on many sides 
and you will have drawn an outline of character which cannot 
be much altered. Add to it the Prince's constant solicitude 
about public matters and his intelligent estimate of forces — 
which last is the chief business of statesmanship. Add to this 
again the effect upon the hearer of conversation from a mind 
full, not indeed of literature, but of life ; a conversation of 
wide range, of acuteness, of clear statement and strong opinion, 
of infinite good humour." 



THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 263 

To these varied lines of useful statesmanship and personal 
labour in which the Heir Apparent was engaged for so many 
years, maybe added the personal influence which he exercised 
over men of the Empire from time to time, and his constant 
inculcation of pride in country and of patriotic principle. 
There will then be seen a total record worthy of his later place 
as the hereditary ruler of vast dominions. In the former con- 
nection one incident may be mentioned as told by a corre- 
spondent during the Indian tour : "The Prince's tact is remark- 
able, and the news of his friendliness soon spread over India ; 
one officer of great experience in Indian affairs declared that 
in asking the Maharajah Scindia to ride down the lines with 
him at Delhi, His Royal Highness performed an act which 
was worth a million sterling." Upon the latter point his 
speeches during forty years to innumerable military bodies — 
Militia, Volunteer, or Naval — may be mentioned. His earliest 
deliverance of this character was in presenting colours to the 
100th, or Prince of Wales' Royal Canadian Regiment, at 
Thorncliffe, on January 10th, 1859. His first speech as an 
officer of the Army was, therefore, of an Imperialistic character : 
" The ceremonial, in which we are now engaged, possesses a 
peculiar significance and solemnity because in confiding to you 
for the first time this emblem of military fidelity and valour, I 
not only recognize emphatically your enrollment into our 
national force but celebrate an act which proclaims and 
strengthens the unity of the various parts of this vast Empire 
under the sway of our common Sovereign." The fact that 
this address of the youthful Prince — he was not eighteen — was 
probably revised and approved by the Prince Consort and the 
Queen, illustrates how early his education in Imperialism 
began, and how far in advance of public opinion the Queen 
and her sagacious husband were. 

Through the years that followed the Prince of Wales was 
never backward in urging efficient military and naval protection 



264 THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 

for British interests. Upon the question of the Navy 
two speeches, delivered in 1899, may be referred to as indicat- 
ing the patriotic statesmanship of the Heir of the Throne- 
Speaking at the Middlesex Hospital banquet on April 12th he 
said : " In this country it depends on our Navy and our Army 
to uphold the honour and prestige of our nation and to protect 
the interests which have made it the vast empire it is. I rejoice 
to think that Her Majesty's Government have thought fit to 
increase our Navy. I realize by your applause how heartily 
you reciprocate what I have said, and I believe that this feel- 
ing exists not only in this room but throughout the length and 
breadth of Her Majesty's dominions. In strengthening our 
Navy, God forbid that it should imply in any way that we 
threatened other countries — just the reverse— for, in order to 
be at peace, we must be strong. Therefore, the best policy is 
to strengthen our first line of defence— the Navy. I hope the 
motto of which our Volunteers are so proud may ever be 
retained by the Navy ; that of defence, not defiance." A little 
later, as President of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, 
he presided over a banquet in London on May 1st. In pro- 
posing the toast of the Army and Navy he declared that the 
country owed them much. "I am sure the desire of every 
Englishman is to see both in a high state of efficiency and that 
he does not grudge putting his hand in his pocket to maintain 
them, because he knows that if he has a good fleet and a good 
army he is safe and the honour of the Empire is safe." 

An incident occurred on April 4th, 1900, which afforded 
abundant proof of the popularity of the Prince of Wales and 
indicated the importance his position had attained in the eyes 
of the world. He had been travelling to Denmark accompan- 
ied by the Princess, and his train had arrived at Brussels en 
route from Calais to Copenhagen. The carriage was a special 
one and was leaving the station at a slow, preliminary rate 
when a youth named Sipido jumped on the foot-board of the 



THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 265 

car and fired two shots, in rapid succession, point-blank at the 
traveller who was just taking a cup of tea with his wife. He 
was about to fire a third time, but was seized by the station- 
master, arrested and sent to prison. The man turned out to 
be a Belgian, expressed no regret for his attempted crime, said 
that he was willing to try again, and stated, under cross-exami- 
nation, that his object was to avenge the thousands of men 
"whom the Prince had caused to be slaughtered in South Afri- 
ca." He was afterwards tried under the laws of Belgium and 
acquitted. After sending dispatches to the Queen and the 
Duchess of York, containing assurance of safety, the Prince 
and Princess proceeded on their way to Denmark. 

The event created a profound sensation in Great Britain 
and throughout Europe and the British Empire. The first 
feeling was of astonishment that one of the most popular 
members of the world's Royal circle should be the object of 
such an attempt ; the second that more care had not been 
taken by those responsible for his safety in travelling ; and the 
third was admiration for the perfect coolness and obvious 
bravery which he showed during and after the ordeal. Every- 
where tributes of sympathy were tendered in language of 
unstinted appreciation of the Heir Apparent's public services 
and character. Speaking at Acton, on the same evening, Lord 
George Hamilton, M. P., said : " What could have induced 
any foreigner to raise his hand against the Prince of Wales 
passed his comprehension. If there was one individual who 
had utilized his position and abilities to promote the welfare 
of the poorer section of society it was the Prince of Wales. 
No kinder, no more philanthropic, no more humane man 
existed on the face of the earth." At other meetings which 
were going on, sympathetic allusions were made to the event, 
amidst loud cheers, by Lord Strathcona, Sir William Wedder- 
burn, M. P., the Earl of Hopetoun, and Sir Wilfrid Lawson. 
Telegrams poured in at Windsor and Marlborough House 



266 THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 

from every point of the compass. Resolutions of congratula- 
tion were passed in every portion of the Empire during the next 
few days, and " God bless the Prince of Wales " rang loudly 
through the United Kingdom and many a distant country. 
King Leopold of Belgium was one of the first to express 
his deep regret at the occurrence ; the Governments of Vic- 
toria, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, New 
Zealand, Tasmania, Cyprus, Mauritius and Barbados, the 
President of France, the Portuguese Parliament, the Town 
Councils of Ballarat and Bendigo in Australia and Durban in 
South Africa, the Agents-General of all the Colonies in Lon- 
don, the Australian Federal Delegates in London, the Masonic 
Grand Lodge of New Zealand, the Corporation of London, 
the Government of Servia, the High Commissioner for South 
Africa and the Hon. W. P. Schreiner, Premier of Cape 
Colony, the Governor-General of Canada, the Governor of 
Malta, and some eight hundred other Governments, public 
bodies, or prominent persons, telegraphed messages of congrat- 
ulation or formal Resolutions. The references of the British 
and Colonial press were more than sympathetic. The London 
Standard thought that " the veneration felt for the Queen as 
well as the general regard for the Prince's personal qualities 
and his universal popularity might be supposed to give him 
absolute immunity, even in these days of frenzied political 
animosity and unscrupulous journalistic violence. The Prince 
is almost as well-known on the Continent as he is at home, and 
his invariable courtesy and unaffected kindness of heart have 
been appreciated and acknowledged in capitals where his coun- 
try is not regarded with affection." The London Daily News 
pointed out the utter absence of all excuse for such an attempt. 
" The Prince had refrained with admirable tact and discretion 
from interference with public affairs. All sorts of charitable 
and philanthropic concerns have found in his Royal Highness 
a sympathetic friend." 



THE PRINCE AS HEIR APPARENT 267 

Returning home, on April 20th, the Prince of Wales was 
given a pleasant surprise at Altona where, as his train stopped 
on German soil, he found the Emperor William and Prince 
Henry of Prussia waiting with their suites to welcome him to 
Germany and, at the same time, to offer personal congratula- 
tions upon his escape. This occurrence created wide comment 
in Europe generally, and was taken to mean a desire by the 
German Emperor to express friendly national as well as 
friendly personal feelings. When His Royal Highness arrived 
at Dover, the^welcome was immense in numbers and enthusi- 
astic in character. The same thing occurred at Charing-Cross 
Station, London, where he was met by the Duke of York and 
the King of Sweden and Norway and wildly cheered by 
thousands of people on his way to Marlborough House. As 
the Standard put it next day : " No address of congratulation, 
presented by dignitaries in scarlet and gold, could have been 
nearly as eloquent as that sea of friendly faces and the ringing 
cheers of loyal men." In response to the innumerable con- 
gratulations received, as well as to this reception, the Prince of 
Wales issued a personal and public note of thanks in the fol- 
lowing terms : 

" I have been deeply touched by the numerous expres- 
sions of sympathy and goodwill addressed to me on the occa- 
sion of the providential escape of the Princess of Wales and 
myself from the danger we have lately passed through. From 
every quarter of the globe, from the Queen's subjects through- 
out the world, as well as from the representatives and inhabi- 
tants of foreign countries, have these manifestations of sympa- 
thy proceeded, and on my return to this country I received a 
welcome so spontaneous and hearty that I felt I was the 
recipient of a most gratifying tribute of genuine good-will. 
Such proofs of kind and generous feeling are naturally most 
highly prized by me, and will forever be cherished in my 
memory." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Accession to the Throne 

THE death of Queen Victoria and the accession of King 
Edward were the first and perhaps the greatest events in 

the opening year of the new century. Before the formal 
announcement on January 1 8th, 1901, which stated that the 
Queen was not in her usual health and that " the great strain 
upon her powers " during the past year had told upon Her 
Majesty's nervous system, the people in Great Britain, in 
Canada, in Australia, in all the Isles of the Sea and on the 
shores of a vast and scattered Empire, had become so accus- 
tomed to her presence at the head of the State and to her 
personality in their hearts and lives that the possibility of her 
death was regarded with a feeling of shocked surprise. 

During the days which immediately followed and while 
the shadow of death lay over the towers of Windsor, its 
influence was everywhere perceptible 'throughout the press, 
the pulpit and amongst the peoples of the Empire — in Mon- 
treal as in Winnipeg, in busy Melbourne and in trouble-tossed 
Cape Town, in Calcutta and in Singapore. When the Prince 
of Wales, on Thursday evening, the 22nd of January, tele- 
graphed the Lord Mayor of London that " My beloved 
mother, the Queen, has just passed away," the announcement 
awakened a feeling of sorrow, cf sympathy and of Imperial 
sentiment such as the world had never seen before in such 
wide-spread character and spontaneous expression. 

Yet there was no expression of uneasiness as to the future ; 
no question or doubt as to the new influence and power that 
must come into existence with the change of rulers ; no fear 

268 



ACCESSION TO THE THRONE *'>9 

that the Prince of Wales, as King and Emperor, would not be 
fully equal to the immense responsibilities of his new and 
great position. Perhaps no Prince, or statesman, or even 
world-conqueror, has ever received so marked a compliment ; 
so universal a token of respect and regard as was exhibited in 
this expression of confidence throughout the British Empire. 

THE EMPIRE'S CONFIDENCE IN THE NEW KING. 

Public bodies of every description in the United Kingdom, 
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and other British 
countries rivalled each other in their tributes of loyalty to the 
new Sovereign as well as of respect for the great one who had 
gone. The press of the Empire was practically a unit in its 
expression of confidence, while the pulpit, which had during 
past years, expressed itself occasionally in terms of criticism, 
was now almost unanimous in approval of the experienced, 
moderate and tried character of the King. The death which 
it was once thought by feeble-minded, or easily misled in- 
dividuals, would shake the Empire to its foundations was now 
seen to simply prove the stability of its Throne, and the firm- 
ness of its institutions in the heart of the people. The acces- 
sion of the Prince of Wales actually strengthened that 
Monarchy which the life and reign of his mother had brought 
so near to the feelings and affections of her subjects every- 
where. 

On the day following the Queen's death the new Sovereign 
drove from Marlborough House to St. James's Palace ; accom- 
panied by Lord Sufneld and an escort of the Horse Guards. 
He had previously arrived in London from Windsor at an 
early hour accompanied by the Duke of Connaught, the Duke 
of York, the Duke of Argyll, Mr. Balfour and others. The 
streets were densely crowded with silent throngs of people ; 
crape and mourning being visible everywhere, and the raised 
hat the respectful recognition accorded to His Majesty. Later 



2 7 o ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 

in the day the people found their voices and seemed to think 
that they could cheer again. At St. James's Palace the mem- 
bers of the Privy Council had gathered to the number of 150 
and were representative of the greatest names and loftiest posi- 
tions in British public life. 

THE KING ADDRESSES THE PRIVY COUNCIL. 

Members of the Royal family, the members of the Gov- 
ernment, prominent Peers, leading members of the House of 
Commons, the principal Judges and the Lord Mayor of Lon- 
don — by virtue of his office — were in attendance. Lord Salis- 
bury, Lord Rosebery, Mr. Chamberlain, Mr. Balfour ; the 
Dukes of Norfolk, Devonshire, Portland, Northumberland, 
Fife and Argyll ; the Earls of Clarendon, Pembroke, Chester- 
field, Cork and Orrery and Kintore ; Lord Halsbury, Lord 
Ashbourne, Lord Knutsford, Sir M. E. Hicks-Beach, Lord 
Balfour of Burleigh, Lord George Hamilton, Mr. St. John 
Brodrick, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Mr. W. H. Long, 
M. P., Lord Ridley, Sir. H. Campbell-Bannerman, Sir J. E. 
Gorst, the Marquess of Ripon, Lord Goschen, Mr. H. H. 
Asquith, Lord Pirbright, Lord Selborne, Sir R Temple, Mr. 
W. E. H. Lecky, Sir Drummond Wolff, Sir Charles Dilke, 
Lord Stalbridge, Sir M. E. Grant-Duff, *Mr. John Morley, 
Earl Spencer and Earl Carrington were amongst those present. 
After the Council had been officially informed by its President 
of the Queen's death and of the accession of the Prince of 
Wales, the new Sovereign entered, clad in a Field Marshal's 
uniform, and delivered, without manuscript or notes, a speech 
which was a model of dignity and simplicity. Its terms showed 
most clearly both tact and a profound perception of his position 
and its importance was everywhere recognized : 

" Your Royal Highnesses, My Lords and Gentlemen : This is the 
most painful occasion on which I shall ever be called upon to address you. 
My first melancholy duty is to announce to you the death of my beloved 



ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 271 

mother, the Queen, and I know how deeply you and the whole nation, 
and, I think I may say, the whole world, sympathize with me in the 
irreparable loss we have all sustained. I need hardly say that my constant 
endeavour will be always to walk in her footsteps. In undertaking the 
heavy load which now devolves upon me I am fully determined to be 
a constitutional Sovereign in the strictest sense of the word, and, so long 
as there is breath in my body, to work for the good and amelioration 
of my people. 

I have resolved to be known by the name of Edward, which has been 
borne by six of my ancestors. In doing so I do not undervalue the name 
of Albert, which I inherit from my ever to-be-lamented, great and wise 
father, who by universal consent is I think, and deservedly, known by the 
name of Albert the Good, and I desire that his name should stand alone. 
In conclusion, I trust to Parliament and the nation to support me in the 
arduous duties which now devolve upon me by inheritance, and to which 
I am determined to devote my whole strength during the remainder of my 
life." 

After the oath of allegiance had been taken by those 
present, the proclamation announcing the accession of the 
new Monarch was signed by the Duke of York — now also 
Duke of Cornwall, — the Duke of Connaught, the Duke of 
Cambridge, Prince Christian, the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Mayor of London, and the 
other Privy Councillors present. The Houses of Parliament 
met shortly afterwards and the members took the oath of alle- 
giance, while all around the Empire the same ceremony was 
being gone through in varied tongues and many forms and 
strangely differing surroundings. There was wide-spread 
interest in His Majesty's choice of a name, and the designation 
of Edward VII was almost universally approved — the excep- 
tions being in certain Scotch contentions that the numeral 
could not properly apply to Scotland as a part of Great Brit- 
ain. The name itself reads well in English history. Edward 
the Confessor, though not included in the Norman chron- 
ology, was a Saxon ruler of high attainments, admirable char- 
acter and wise laws. Edward I, was not only a successful sol- 



272 ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 

dier and the conqueror of wild and warlike Wales, but a states- 
man who did much to establish unity and peace amongst his 
people. Edward II. was remarkable chiefly for the thrashing 
which the Scots gave him at Bannockburn while Edward III. 
was the hero of Crecy, the winner of half of France, and a 
brave and able ruler. Edward IV. was a masterful, hard and 
not over-scrupulous monarch, and Edward V, was one of the 
unfortunate boys who were murdered in the Tower of London. 
Edward VI. was a mild-natured and honest youth who did not 
live long enough to impress himself upon a strenuous period, 
or upon interests with which his character little fitted him to 
deal. The last of the name had reigned, therefore, before the 
Kingdom of England got out of its national and religious 
swaddling clothes ; before the reign of Henry VIII. had freed 
it from connection with Rome, or that of Elizabeth had founded 
the maritime and commercial empire which, in time, was to 
create the mighty realm over which the new Edward now 
assumed sway. 

INCIDENTS SURROUNDING THE ACCESSION 

The Proclamation of the King in the cities of the United 
Kingdom and at the capitals of countries and provinces and 
islands all around the globe was a more or less stately and 
ceremonious function, and the Proclamation itself was couched 
in phraseology almost as old as the Monarchy. " We, there- 
fore, do now with consent of tongue and heart, publish and 
proclaim that the high and mighty Prince, Albert Edward, is 
now, by the death of our late Sovereign of happy memory, 
become our only lawful and rightful Liege Lord, Edward the 
Seventh." At the ceremony in London, Dublin, Liverpool, 
Derby and other cities, immense crowds assembled and "God 
save the King "was sung with unusual heartiness. Mean- 
while, following his address to the Privy Council, the King 
had returned to Osborne with the Duke of Cornwall and 



ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 273 

York, and there he found the German Emperor awaiting him. 
The latter had come post-haste from Berlin and been in time 
to see the Queen before she passed away. He had now 
decided to stay until after the funeral and thus to tender every 
respect in his power to the memory of his august grandmother. 
Parliament had been called immediately upon the King's Pro- 
clamation, and it met hurriedly and briefly on January 24th to 
enable the members to take the oath of allegiance while, all 
around the Empire, similar proceedings were taking place in 
Courts and Legislatures and Government buildings. 

On the following day Parliament met in brief Session and 
the Marquess of Salisbury in the House of Lords and Mr. A. 
J. Balfour in the Commons read a Royal message : " The 
King is fully assured that the House of Lords will share the 
deep sorrow which has befallen His Majesty and the nation 
by the lamented death of His Majesty's mother, the late 
Queen. Her devotion to the welfare of her country and her 
people and her wise and beneficent rule during the sixty-four 
years of her glorious reign will ever be held in affectionate 
memory by her loyal and devoted subjects throughout the 
dominions of the British Empire." In moving an address of 
mingled sympathy and congratulation, in reply, Lord Salisbury 
spoke with sincere and weighty words as to the qualities and 
power of the late Queen, her position as a constitutional ruler 
and her " steady and persistent influence on the action of her 
Ministers in the course of legislation and government." Upon 
the position of the new Sovereign the speaker was explicit : 
" He has before him the greatest example he could have to 
follow, he has been familiar with our political and social life 
for more than one generation, he enjoys a universal and 
enormous popularity, he is beloved in foreign countries and 
foreign Courts almost as much as he is at home, and he has 
profound knowledge of the working of our institutions and 
the conduct of our affairs." 
18 



2 74 ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 

The motion was seconded by Lord Kimberley as Liberal 
Leader in the House, and spoken to by the Archbishop of 
Canterbury. In the Commons Mr. Balfour referred at length 
to the oreat reien and character of Queen Victoria and to the 
Sovereign's influence upon public affairs. " In my judgment 
the importance of the Crown in our Constitution is not a 
diminishing but an increasing factor." Sir Henry Campbell- 
Bannerman, the Opposition Leader, seconded the motion, 
dealt with the late Queen's personal character, referred to 
Queen Alexandra as having long reigned in the hearts of the 
people, and paid high tribute to King Edward: " For the 
greater part of his life it has fallen to him not only to discharge 
a large part of the ceremonial public duty which would naturally 
be performed by the head of the State ; but also to take a 
leading part in almost every scheme established for the national 
benefit of the country. Religion and charity, public health, 
science and literature and art, education, commerce, agricul- 
ture — not one of these subjects appealed in vain to His 
Majesty, when Prince of Wales, for strong sympathy and even 
for personal effort and influence. We know how unselfish he 
has been in the assiduous discharge of all his public duties, we 
know with what tact and geniality he has been able to lend 
himself to the furtherance of these great objects." 

The tactful and obviously sincere language of the King's 
address to his Council had, meanwhile, won the warmest and 
most loyal commendation in all parts of the Empire — the 
unanimity of approval being extraordinary in view of the 
diversity of peoples and interests involved. Other messages 
which followed from His Majesty were of the the same states- 
manlike character. To the Army, on January 25th, he issued 
a special message, as Sovereign and as constitutional head, 
thanking it for the splendid services rendered to the late 
Queen and describing her pride in its deeds and in being her- 
self a soldier's daughter. " To secure your best interests will 



ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 275 

be one of the deepest objects of my heart and I know I can 
count upon that loyal devotion which you ever evinced toward 
your late Sovereign." On the following day the Navy received 
a message of thanks for the distinguished services rendered by 
it during the long and glorious reign of the late Queen and 
concluding with these words : " Watching over your interests 
and well-being I confidently rely upon that unfailing loyalty 
which is the proud inheritance of your noble Service." 

An incident followed which once more showed the tact- 
fulness of character so desirable and important in a Sovereign. 
The presence of William II. of Germany in England, at this 
particular period, was creating much discussion abroad and 
his evident friendship for the King, whom he had just made 
an Admiral of the German fleet and with whom he had been 
having prolonged conferences — in company on one occasion 
with Lord Lansdowne who had been hastily summoned to 
Osborne — increased this interest. On January 28th the situa- 
tion was accentuated by the announcement that the German 
Emperor had been made a Field Marshal in the British Army 
and his son, the Crown Prince, a Knight of the Garter. In 
personally conferring the latter honour King Edward made a 
brief speech in which he expressed the hope that the kindly 
action of the Emperor in coming to London at this juncture 
and his own presentation of this ancient Order to the Prince 
might " further cement and strengthen the good feeling which 
exists between the two countries." 

Between the time of the King's accession and the funeral 
of Queen Victoria, on February 1st, the press and public of 
the Empire were busy taking stock of the great loss sustained 
and measuring the character and possibilities of the new 
Sovereign. There was, in both connections, a curious and 
striking unanimity, as may be inferred from what has been 
already stated. A few expressions of authoritative opinion 
about the new King may, however, very properly be quoted here 



276 ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 

in addition to the references made in Parliament. The Lon- 
don Times, on the day following the Queen's death, spoke of 
the long training undergone by the Prince of Wales, of his 
wide experience and his acquaintance with the ceremonial 
functions of Royalty. " Endowed as he is with many of the 
most lovable and attractive qualities of his mother — with warm 
sympathies, with a kind heart, with a generous disposition, and 
with a quick appreciation of genuine worth — the nation is 
happy in the confidence that, in spirit as well as in form, it 
may count upon the maintenance of that conception of Roy- 
alty which is the only one which most of us have ever known. 
To these qualities the King adds perfect tact, wide knowledge 
of men and the business virtues of method, prompt decision, 
punctuality and great capacity for work." 

KINDLY AND LOYAL WORDS 

Speaking on January 24th at the City Temple, the Rev. 
Dr. Joseph Parker, Chairman of the Congregational Union of 
England and Wales, spoke of the King's great opportunities 
and personal powers. "As Prince of Wales he has played a 
difficult part with strict sagacity and unfailing good-nature. 
He is a man of great compass of mind. Let us welcome him 
with our warmest appreciation." From across the Atlantic 
came the voice of the Prime Minister of Canada, Sir Wilfrid 
Laurier, in his eloquent speech in Parliament on Feruary 8th : 
"We have believed from the first that he who was a wise 
Prince will be a wise King, and that the policy which has 
made the British Empire so great under his predecessor will 
also be his policy." From the still more distant Melbourne, 
Australia, came the kindly and loyal words of the Argus on 
February 1st : "In the eyes of his subjects, near and far, he 
is clothed with the kindliness, the tact, the sympathy with 
social progress, the practical intelligence, the political impar- 
tiality, and the keen sense of duty he displayed during the 



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ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 277 

many years in which he helped his mother in the discharge of 
the Royal tasks. His people know that he possesses the 
amiability, the dignity, the clear vision and the industry which 
befit the occupant of a most exacting as well as exalted posi- 
tion." From all over the world came testimonies of similar 
feeling, and within British dominions the opinions and tributes 
everywhere partook of one quality — that of trust and confi- 
dence in the new Sovereign. 

During this first week of his reign the work which 
devolved upon the King was tremendous. The signing and 
consideration of necessary documents which had been delayed 
during the illness of the Queen was alone a serious task. The 
slight sickness of the Duke of Cornwall and York detached 
him from the help which he might have given in many ways, 
and the presence of the German Emperor increased the bur- 
den of discussion and of questions to be dealt with. The King 
also took charge of the large and complicated arrangements 
connected with the funeral ceremonies and supervised the 
immense variety of details with his usual business-like ability 
and energy. This great function, which eclipsed the Jubilee 
in solemn splendour and exceeded any demonstration in his- 
tory in its unquestioned weight of public sorrow, commenced 
on Friday, February 1st, when the remains of the Queen were 
removed from Osborne to the Royal yacht Alberta. 

The coffin was carried by Highlanders and blue-jackets, 
followed by the King, the German Emperor, the Duke of 
Connaught, the German Crown Prince, Prince Henry of 
Prussia, Prince Christian, the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and 
Gotha, Prince Arthur of Connaught, Prince Charles of Den- 
mark, Prince Louis of Battenberg, and then Queen Alex- 
andra and the Princesses. The Alberta passed across the 
Solent to Portsmouth, through a long and continuous avenue 
of salutino- warships, and was followed by another vessel with 
the Royal mourners on board. The members of the Lords 



278 ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 

and Commons were on vessels placed amongst the warships. 
On Saturday the body of the late Sovereign was brought from 
Portsmouth to the metropolis and borne with solemn state to 
Paddinoton station through millions of black-o-arbed, silent 
and mournful people, and between lines, along the entire route, 
of thirty-three thousand Regular troops and volunteers. It 
was followed by the King, the German Emperor and the Duke 
of Connaught, riding abreast, the Kings of Portugal and 
Greece, forty Princes representing every Royal House in 
Europe, seventeen representatives of the Colonies, a long 
array of Ambassadors and foreign representatives, the Queen, 
the Princesses, the King of the Belgians, the Duke of Cam- 
bridge, Lord Roberts, Lord Wolseley. The coffin was taken 
by train to Windsor where, in St. George's Chapel, the funeral 
service was conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and 
the Bishop of Winchester. The actual interment took place 
on Monday afternoon in the Royal Mausoleum of Frogmore, 
where the remains of the great Queen were laid in death 
beside those of the husband whose memory she had so long 
cherished in life. 

These prolonged obsequies — the most splendid and im- 
pressive in history — passed off with a smoothness of procedure 
which, under the circumstances of sorrow and crowding duties, 
indicated more than ordinary powers of concentration and 
management in the new King", as well as a most marvellous 
sentiment and sympathy amongst the people. Throughout 
the Empire, as that solemn procession passed along the 
purple-draped streets of London, funeral services were being 
held and sermons of sorrow preached in an uncounted multi- 
tude of churches darkened with all the habiliments of mourn- 
ing. As the Standai r d well put it on February 5th : " The 
nation is conscious of its debt to the King, whose tactful per- 
ception and devoted labour gave it so splendid an opportunity 
of showing its reverence for the Sovereign who has just passed 



ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 279 

away. The King on his side has found strength and comfort 
in those eloquent demonstrations of the sympathy of his sub- 
jects which have reached him, in innumerable ways, from all 
parts of his dominions." Immediately after the last ceremonies 
had been performed the King issued a series of Messages 
which, for tact and courtesy and kindliness, have rarely been 
excelled — even by the experienced eloquence of his Royal 
mother. They were all dated February 4th and the first was 
addressed " To my People." It commenced by saying : " Now 
that the last scene has closed in the noble and ever-o-lorious 
life of my beloved mother, the Queen, I am anxious to endeavour 
to convey to the whole Empire the extent of the deep gratitude 
I feel for the heart-stirring and affectionate tributes which are 
everywhere borne to her memory." His Majesty proceeded 
to speak of the recent magnificent display by sea and land and 
the inspiration of courage and hope which the public sympathy 
had been to him during the recent trying days. " Encouraged 
by the confidence of that love and trust which the nation ever 
reposed in its late and fondly-mourned Sovereign, I shall 
earnestly strive to walk in her footsteps, devoting myself to 
the utmost of my powers to maintaining and promoting the 
highest interests of my people and to the diligent and zealous 
fulfilment of the great and sacred, responsibilities which, 
through the will of God, I am now called to undertake." 

A second Message was addressed " To my People beyond 
the Seas." After referring to the countless dispatches which 
had been received from his " Dominions over the Seas" and 
the universal grief felt throughout the Empire, the King spoke 
of the " heartfelt interest " always evinced by the late Sovereign 
in the welfare of Greater Britain, in the extension of self- 
government, in the loyalty of the people to her Throne and 
person, in the gallantry of those who had fought and died for 
the Empire in South Africa. He concluded as follows: "I 
have already declared that it will be my constant endeavour 



280 ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 

to follow the great example which has been bequeathed to 
me. In these endeavours, I shall have a constant trust in the 
devotion and sympathy of the people and of their several rep- 
resentative assemblies throughout my vast Colonial dominions. 
With such loyal support, I will, with God's blessing, solemnly 
work for the common welfare and security of the great Empire 
over which I have now been called to reigfn." 

The next and last of these historic documents was a letter 
to the Princes and peoples of India in which His Majesty 
informed them that through the lamented death of his mother 
he had inherited a Throne " which has descended to me 
through a long and ancient lineage" and then proceeded : " I 
now desire to send my greeting to the ruling Chiefs of the 
Native States and to the inhabitants of my Indian dominions, 
to insure them of my sincere good will and affection and of my 
heartfelt wishes for their welfare." He spoke of his illustrious 
predecessor as having first taken upon herself the direct admin- 
istration of Indian affairs and assumed the title of Empress in 
token of her closer association with the Qrovernment of that 
country ; referred to the loyalty of its people and the services 
rendered by its Princes in the South African war and by its 
native soldiers in other countries ; and concluded in the fol- 
lowing expressive wo.rds : " It was by her wish and with her 
sanction that I visited India and made myself acquainted with 
the ruling Chiefs, the people and the cities of that ancient and 
famous Empire. I shall never forget the deep impressions 
which I then received and I shall endeavour to follow the great 
Queen-Empress, to work for the general well-being of my 
Indian subjects of all ranks and to merit, as she did, their 
unfailing loyalty and affection." 

Following these incidents came the return home of the 
German Emperor, a letter of thanks from the Kinor to Earl 
Roberts for his management of the military part of the funeral 
arrangements, and a most enthusiastic reception to His 



ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 281 

Majesty and Queen Alexandra during a rapid passage through 
London to Marlborough House on February 27th. From 
this time on, during weeks of crowded work and the assump- 
tion of new responsibilities and functions, the King re- 
ceived many addresses of mingled condolence and congratu- 
lation. One of the first was from the Royal Agricultural 
Society of England which the King had done so much to aid 
as Heir Apparent. The President, Earl Cawdor, in speaking 
to the Council on February 6th, referred to "the keen per- 
sonal interest which the King had ever taken in all that 
related to the welfare of the agricultural interests of the coun- 
try at large, and especially of the Royal Agricultural Society. 
They had made many and many calls upon his time and 
thought." Canterbury Convocation referred to the pending 
visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York to 
Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The County of Derby 
the Royal Society, the Benevolent Society of St. Patrick — all 
sorts of organizations, political, financial, commercial, religious, 
scientific, official, artistic, benevolent and literary — expressed 
their admiration for the late Queen and their loyalty to the 
new Sovereign. 

RECEPTION OF LOYAL ADDRESS 

On January 13th the King received, in state, at St. 
James's Palace, the Corporation of London and the London 
County Council. In response to the addresses His Majesty 
made a direct reference to the Housing of the Poor Question, 
which he described as one in which " I have always taken the 
deepest personal interest." At a meeting of the Mark Master 
Masons of England on February 19th, with the Earl of Euston 
in the chair, the usual address was passed, and then a letter 
was read from Sir Francis Knollys, saying that the King felt 
it necessary to resign the Grand-Mastership, but that he would 
remain a Patron of the Order, Five days later the King 



282 ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 

received at St. James's the loyal address of the University of 
Oxford, presented by its Chancellor, the Marquess of Salis- 
bury ; of the University of Cambridge, presented by its 
Chancellor, the Duke of Devonshire ; of the General Assem- 
bly of the Church of Scotland, presented by the Right Rev. 
Dr. Norman Macleod ; of the Corporation of Edinburgh and 
the Royal Society. Each of the deputations presenting these 
addresses was large and distinguished in membership, and to 
each His Majesty addressed a brief and tactful speech. 

On March 12th another brilliant function was held at the 
same Palace, when the King received addresses from the Con- 
vocation of Canterbury, presented by the Archbishop, and 
that of the Northern Convocation presented by the Arch- 
bishop of York; the University of London, the English Pres- 
byterian Church and the Society of Friends. Eight days later 
the great event in this connection, amidst surroundings of 
state and splendour, was the reception of over forty addresses 
from cities, boroughs, institutions and various public bodies. 
Included in the list of deputations presenting addresses were 
those from the Universities of Edinburgh, Dublin, Victoria and 
Wales, the Dutch Reformed Church, the Baptist Union, the 
Congregational Union of England and Wales, the National 
Council of the Evangelical Free Churches, the Cities of York, 
Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Belfast, Cardiff, Exeter, Ches- 
ter and Doncaster, the Bank of England, the Royal Asiatic 
Society, the Incorporated Law Society of the United King- 
dom, the Coal Exchange, the United Grand Lodge of Free- 
masons and the Ancient Order of Foresters. General replies 
were given to each address and to only a few separately. 
Amongst the latter were the Freemasons, to whom the King 
said : " I have felt much regret at relinquishing the high and 
honourable post of Grand Master which I have held since 
1874, and I shall not cease to retain the same interest that I 



ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 283 

have felt in Freemasonry." He also expressed great satisfac- 
tion at being succeeded by the Duke of Connaught. 

Further addresses were presented in similar state on 
May 3d. The Roman Catholic deputation was headed by 
Cardinal Vaughan and the Duke of Norfolk and included 
Lord Llandaff and fourteen Bishops — a brilliant picture in red 
and purple and black. Their address was of peculiar interest 
and contained the following paragraph : "Your Majesty's life 
has been spent in the midst of your people, sharing in their 
happiness and prosperity, actively engaged in ameliorating the 
condition of the lowly and in promoting their comfort in sick- 
ness and suffering. All classes of the population — the leisured, 
the professional, the industrial and the poor — have been the 
object of your sympathy and interest." A deputation from 
the Jews of Great Britain included Lord Rothschild, the Hon. 
L. W. Rothschild, M.P., the Chief Rabbi, Sir G. Faudel- 
Phillips, Sir Edward Sassoon, M.P., Mr. B. L. Cohen, M.P., 
and Sir J. Sebag-Montefiore. Addresses were also presented 
by the Presbyterian Church of England, and on behalf of a 
large number of cities and towns. 

Meanwhile, King Edward had been conferring honours 
or positions upon some of his old friends and faithful servants, 
re-organizing his Household generally for the still more onerous 
and important work now before them, and not forgetting to 
conspicuously reward the best and oldest servants of the late 
Sovereign. In this delicate task he showed his usual tact and 
consideration. First in this respect, as she had been for so 
many years whereever he could properly place her in the front, 
was his wife — -and to Queen Alexandra was given the first 
honour of the new reign in her creation, under special statute, 
on February 12th, as Lady of the Most Noble Order of the 
Garter — the greatest order of Knighthood in the world. 
Three days later the Royal Victorian Order in its highest 
form — G. C. V. O. — was given to the Duke of Argyll and the 



284 ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 

Duke of Fife. Lord Edward Pelham-Clinton, Major-General 
Sir John Carstairs McNeill, V. C, Sir Fleetwood Edwards and 
Sir Arthur J. Bigge, for many years important members of 
Queen Victoria's Household, received the same honour, as 
did the King's own devoted Secretary, Sir Francis Knollys. 

On February 18th, a number of appointments were made 
to the Household including Lord Sumeld as Lord-in-Waiting 
with General the Right Hon. Sir D. M. Probyn, Sir John 
McNeill, Lord Wantage, V. C, Sir Fleetwood Edwards and 
Sir Arthur Bigge as Extra Equerries to His Majesty. General, 
Viscount Bridport and General the Duke of Grafton were 
appointed Honorary Equerries and Major-Generals Sir Henry 
P. Ewart and Sir Stanley Clarke to other positions at Court. 
Queen Alexandra appointed the members of her Household 
under date of March 8th and they included the Duchess of 
Buccleuch and Queensberry as Mistress of the Robes, the 
Countesses of Antrim, Macclesfield, Gosford and Lytton and 
the Lady Suffield and Dowager Countess of Morton as Ladies 
of the Bedchamber, Lord Colville of Culross as Lord Cham- 
berlain, the Earl of Gosford as Vice-Chamberlain, the Earl de 
Grey as Treasurer, and the Hon. S. R. Greville as Private 
Secretary. Numerous appointments of an honorary kind in 
connection with the Army and Navy followed and on July 
24th the Earl of Pembroke was announced as Lord Steward 
of His Majesty's Household, the Hon. V. C. W. Cavendish 
M. P. as Treasurer, Viscount Valentia M. P. as Comptroller, 
Lord Farquhar as Master of the Household, the Earl of 
Clarendon as Lord Chamberlain, Major-General Sir Arthur 
Ellis as Comptroller of Accounts, the Duke of Portland as 
Master of the Horse, the Duke of Argyll as Governor of 
Windsor Castle and the following as Lords-in- Waiting : the 
Earl of Denbigh, the Earl of Kintore, Earl Howe, Lord Suf- 
field, Lord Kenyon, Lord Churchill and Lord Lawrence. 




THE HONORABLE GEORGE BROWN 

The great liberal leader of the Dominion of Canada and popular 
representative in the upper Hoibe of Parliament. 




THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR WILFRID LAURIER 
G.C.M.G., P.C., N.P. 

King's Prime Minister in Canada, 



ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 285 

Many of these names may be recognized as amongst the 
friends or officials of the King, in his later years as the Heir 
Apparent, or as companions in some of his travels. On March 
24th, following the custom of British Sovereigns, several special 
Embassies were appointed and announced to carry to European 
Courts the official intimation of His Majesty's accession. That 
to Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Russia, Germany and 
Saxony, included the Duke of Abercorn, the Earl of Kintore, 
Major-General Sir Archibald Hunter and the Marquess of 
Hamilton, M. P. and that to Belgium, Bavaria, Italy, Wurtem- 
berg and the Netherlands, included the Earl of Mount Edge- 
combe, Viscount Downe and Admiral Sir Michael Culme- 
Seymour. Earl Carrington, the Earl of Harewood and others 
were appointed to France, Spain and Portugal and Field 
Marshal Lord Wolseley, Viscount Castlereagh and others to 
Austro- Hungary, Roumania, Serviaand Turkey. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The First Year of the New Reign. 

THE first year's reign of a Sovereign must always be 
important, and when that Sovereign rules over a third 

of the earth's surface and a quarter of its population, it is 
more than usually so. King Edward VII., when he came to 
the Throne, found himself the first of Mohammedan rulers, 
with more Moslem subjects than the Sultan of Turkey ; the 
first of Brahmin and Parsee Sovereigns ; the head of various 
Confucian colonies and the possessor of the most sacred of 
Buddhist shrines ; the ruler of Christian sects and idolatries of 
every conceivable kind and variety. Almost every race in the 
world was included in his Empire — English, Scotch and Irish 
everywhere, French in the Channel Islands and in Canada, 
Italians and Greeks in Malta, Arab, Coptic and Turkish sub- 
jects in Egypt, Negroes of all descriptions in the Soudan and 
elsewhere, subjects of infinitely varied Asiatic types in India, 
Chinese in Hong-Kong and Wei-Hai-Wei, Malays in Borneo 
and the Malay Peninsula, Polynesians in the Pacific, Red Indi- 
ans in Canada and Maoris in New Zealand, Dutch, Zulus, 
Basutos and French Huguenots in South Africa, Eskimos in 
Northern Canada. The complicated issues involved in such a 
Government as that of the British Empire, with its curiously 
non-centralized system, were certainly sufficient to make a 
Sovereign inheriting the position, the opportunities, and much 
of the capacity of Queen Victoria, feel that he had, indeed, 
assumed heavy responsibilities. 

His first step had been a most wise one, and in direct line 
with a policy carried out as Heir Apparent — the cementing of 
286 



FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 287 

close and cordial relations with the German Emperor durino- 
his long and much-discussed visit to the dying Queen and 
mourning family. To this friendship and the enthusiastic and 
popular reception given William II. when leaving London on 
February 5th, 1901, was undoubtedly due the restraining influ- 
ence held over a part of the press of Germany durino- the 
succeeding period of vile abuse of England regirdino- the 
South African War. Following this, on February 24th, was 
the departure of King Edward on a visit to his sister, the 
Empress Frederick, at Frederichshof, near Cronbero-, where 
he was joined by the Emperor William. The King was accom- 
panied by Sir Frank Lascelles, Ambassador at Berlin, and by 
his physician, Sir Francis Laking. The Empress was found 
to be very ill, but not dying, and after a few days her Royal 
brother and son returned to their respective capitals. 

THE KING'S FIRST PARLIAMENT AND DECLARATION 

The first Parliament of the new reign was opened by the 
King in brilliant state and with much dignified ceremonial on 
Fehruary 14th. The pageantry of the occasion was pictur- 
esque and splendid. The staircase in Parliament House, up 
which the Royal pair passed in their progress, was lined with 
a living hedge of men in blue and silver uniforms, topped with 
red plumes and shining with the burnished steel accoutrements 
of the Horse Guards. Before them were stately, robed offi- 
cials, such as Lord Salisbury and the Duke of Devonshire and 
some of the brilliant colours of the Court. The King wore a 
short ermine cape over his Field Marshal's uniform, and beneath 
the cape a sweeping cloak and train of Royal purple. Queen 
Alexandra, beautiful always, was more than usually sweet and 
dignified in her garb of mingled black and purple. In the 
House of Lords the evidences of mourning for the late Queen 
were very apparent. The ladies were dressed in black thouori 
they were permitted to blaze with jewels. The Peers' robes 



288 FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 

of red and ermine, gave a little colour to the scene, helped by 
those of the Judges in black and gold, or red and white, and 
the bright uniforms of the Ambassadors in a distant corner. 
Hand-in-hand the King and Queen entered the Chamber and 
took their places upon the chairs of state. The Commons 
were called in, and then the Lord Chancellor presented and 
the King repeated and signed the somewhat famous Declara- 
tion against the Mass and other Roman doctrines, or observ- 
ances, as provided by the Bill of Rights. It was as follows : 

" I do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God, 
profess, testify and declare that I do believe that in the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's Supper there is not any transubstantiation 
of the elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of 
Christ at or after the consecration thereof by any person 
whatsoever ; and that the invocation or adoration of the Virgin 
Mary or any other saint and the sacrifice of the mass as they 
are now used in the Church of Rome are superstitious and 
idolatrous, and I do solemnly in the presence of God, profess, 
testify and declare that I do make this Declaration and every 
part thereof in the plain and ordinary sense of the words read 
unto me as they are commonly understood by English Protest- 
ants, without any evasion, equivocation, or mental reservation 
whatsoever and without any dispensation already granted me 
for this purpose by the Pope or any other authority or person 
whatsoever, or without any hope of any such dispensation from 
any person or authority whatsoever, or without thinking that I 
am or can be acquitted before God or man, or absolved of this 
Declaration or any part thereof, although the Pope or any 
other person or persons or power whatsoever should dispense 
with or annull the same, or declare that it was null and void 
from the beginning." 

The next proceeding was the reading of the King's 
speech to his Parliament in strong, full tones which impressively 



FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 289 

and clearly filled the Chamber. This part of the cere- 
mony was rendered unusually interesting, in view of the fact 
that the King was understood to have had more to do with 
the wording of his speech than had been customary, and to 
have changed the conditions by which it had become usual to 
give an advance summary of its contents to the press. Refer- 
ence was made to the death of the Queen and to his own 
accession, to the progress of the South African War, the 
Chinese troubles, the establishment of the Australian Com- 
monwealth, the sending of additional Contingents from the 
Colonies to the front, the famine in India, the relief of the 
Coomassie garrison, and to his intention to carry out the late 
Sovereign's wish regarding the Imperial tour of the Duke and 
Duchess of Cornwall and York. The whole function was of a 
solemn and impressive and splendid character, in keeping with 
the traditions of the Crown and in harmony with the known 
intentions of the King to assume the full ceremonial and dig- 
nity of his position. The Times, on the following morning, 
referred to the enthusiastic reception of the King and Queen 
as they drove to Westminster and to the inspiring and exhil- 
arating character of the scene in the House of Lords. " The 
present generation has seen hardly anything, not even except- 
ing the processions of 1887 and 1897, at a ^ comparable in 
splendour and solemnity with the pageant yesterday at 
Westminster." 

The session of Parliament which followed was closely and 
continuously associated with subjects arising out of the King's 
accession. An early and prominent topic was the Declaration 
taken against Roman Catholicism. Under date of February 
20th, Cardinal Vaughan issued a letter to his Diocese declar- 
ing that "patriotism and loyalty to the Sovereign are charac- 
teristic of the Catholics of this country and are to be counted 
on, quite independently of passing emotions of pain or pleasure, 
because they are rooted in a permanent dictate and principle 
19 



2 9 o FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 

of religion ; " that Catholics had, however, been made unhappy 
by the " recent renewal of the national act of apostacy " in 
the Sovereign's branding by solemn Declaration their religious 
doctrines as superstitious and idolatrous ; that the Catholic 
Peers had done well in protesting to the Lord Chancellor 
against the continued use of this Declaration; that British 
legislators in all parts of the Empire and the twelve million 
Catholic subjects of the Crown throughout the world should 
take further measures of constitutional protest ; that the evil 
so greatly deplored was the result of an anachronism and of a 
barbaric law which had remained accidentally unrepealed ; and 
that there was reason to hope that " this remnant of a hateful 
fanaticism " would soon be removed from the statute-book. 

In Canada and Australia protests were prepared and pre- 
sented through the Cardinal — that from the Dominion bein^ 
signed by all the members of the Hierarchy. In the House 
of Lords a Committee was appointed, on motion of Lord 
Salisbury, to deal with the matter although no Catholic Peers 
would serve upon it. They reported early in July that a modi- 
fication of the Declaration might be made so as to omit the 
adjectives and objectionable phraseology without affecting the 
strength of the pledge itself. A Government measure was 
prepared along these lines and submitted to the House. It 
was opposed by Lord Rosebery on August ist, on the ground 
that nothing could really bind conscientious convictions, that 
the King might change his views and not be bound by this 
Declaration in future, and, that it did not repudiate the temp- 
oral or spiritual supremacy of the Pope. The Archbishop of 
Canterbury did not like the changes, the Duke of Norfolk did 
not care for the new form and the Roman Catholics generally, 
in and out of the House, objected to the compromise as use- 
less. The result was that Lord Salisbury eventually withdrew 
his measure and the matter dropped out of public discussion 
for the time — although the Canadian House of Commons and 



FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 291 

other public bodies in the Empire had meanwhile protested 
against the continued maintenance of the Declaration. 

THE KING'S INCOME AND REVENUES 

Another duty which faced the early consideration of Par- 
liament was the Civil List. Queen Victoria's Civil List had 
been ,£385,000, given as a permanent yearly income for her 
reign, and in return for the formal surrender of the revenues 
of the Crown Lands for the same period. In this connection, 
the Daily News of Februry 14th, pointed out that the late 
Sovereign had received during her long reign ^"24,000,000 
from the people while the revenues of the surrendered Crown 
Lands had totalled ^20,000,000. Speaking for the Liberals 
and Radicals this paper declared that there was " no disposi- 
tion to deal grudgingly with a Monarch who has fully borne 
the share that belongs to him in the country's affairs," that it 
might be well to adhere closely to the late Queen's Civil List, 
and that the example of "a moderate and sober Court " would 
be of the highest value to the nation. On March 1 ith Sir M. 
E. Hicks-Beach moved the appointment of a House of Com- 
mons' Committee to deal with the question, composed of Mr. 
Balfour, Sir W. Hart Dyke, Sir F. Dixon-Hartland, Sir S. 
Hoare, Mr. W. L. Jackson, with seven other members and 
himself, as representatives of the Government party and Sir 
Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Sir William Harcourt, Sir Henry 
Fowler, Sir James Kitson, Mr. H. Labouchere, and three 
others, as representing the Opposition. The Times of the 
following day said that there were two reasons for somewhat 
increasing the sum to be voted — the fact of the King having 
a Consort of whom the nation was proud, while Queen Victoria 
was unmarried at the time of the' former vote, and the fact, as 
the Chancellor of the Exchequer put it to the House, that the 
King was now the head of a world-wide Empire. 



292 FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 

As finally decided in the Report of the Select Committee 
the new Civil List was placed at ,£470,000 for the Sovereign 
— of which ,£1 10,000 was to go to the Privy Purse in place of 
£ 60,000 received by Queen Victoria ; the Duke of Cornwall 
and York was to receive ,£20,000 annually, and the Duchess 
,£10,000 — in addition, of course, to the ,£60,000 coming to the 
Heir Apparent from the Duchy of Lancaster; the King's chil- 
dren, the Duchess of Fife, Princess Victoria and Princess 
Charles of Denmark, were each to have ,£6,000 a year for life ; 
while the contingent annuity of ,£30,000 provided in the 
event of Queen Alexandra surviving her husband, was to be 
increased to ,£70,000 and a similar contingent grant of ,£30,000 
arranged for the Duchess of Cornwall and York. The only 
apparent opposition in the Committee to these proposals was 
from Mr. Labouchere, who suggested certain variations and 
reductions. There was little influential criticism of the changes 
proposed — the Daily News, from which opposition might, per- 
haps have come, speaking of one special increase of ,£50,000, 
as follows : " The Queen must have a separate Household if 
the Monarchy is to be maintained, as most people wish that 
it should be maintained, in its ancient splendour ; and the 
gracious kindness of Queen Alexandra, who has endeared 
herself to all the subjects of her husband, will make the tax- 
payer in her case a cheerful giver." 

On May 9th Resolutions based upon these recommenda- 
tions were presented to the Commons by Sir M. E. Hicks- 
Beach and eventually carried by three hundred and seven to 
fifty-eight — the latter being composed of Irish members and 
Mr. Labouchere. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in his 
introductory speech, referred to the Monarchy as " the most 
popular of all our great institutions " and then proceeded to 
enlarge upon the situation as follows : " Throughout the 
Empire there has grown up a feeling, and I think a very right 
and proper feeling, of the enormous importance of the Crown 



FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 293 

as the main link of the relations with all the people of which 
the Empire is composed. Therefore, I think it happened 
that, in the brief debate in which this subject was dealt with 
at the commencement of the present Session, there was no 
sign of any difference of opinion as to the necessity of making 
a sufficient and adequate provision for the maintenance of the 
honour and dignity of the Crown." He mentioned the fact 
that the late Sovereign had bequeathed Balmoral and Osborne 
House to her successor and that he had to maintain these resi- 
dences as well as his old-time home at Sandringham ; that 
King Edward had no personal fortune and that the late 
Queen's savings had been willed to her younger children. He 
concluded by expressing approval of the proposals as moderate 
and fair. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, on behalf of the 
Opposition, declared them to be reasonable and added : " I 
do not doubt at all that the prevailing desire in this House 
and in the country is to see that a provision should be made 
for maintaining that state and dignity of the British Crown 
which shall fittingly represent the loyal attachment of the 
people." Mr. J. E. Redmond followed and declared that not 
only had the Irish members refused to act upon the Commit- 
tee but they would now vote against the Resolutions because 
of the unrepealed statute and Declaration regarding Roman 
Catholicism. Mr. Labouchere spoke against them at length 
and was joined in speech and vote by two Labour members — 
Messrs. Keir Hardie and Cremer — who, amidst laughter and 
interruptions, declared themselves to be republicans and ex- 
pressed regret that the working classes liked Royalty. 

The next subject discussed in Parliament, as it was also 
being discussed throughout British countries generally, was 
that of the Royal titles. As they stood when the King 
ascended the throne the only countries of the Empire recog- 
nized were Great Britain, Ireland and India. It was pointed 
out that Queen Mary in the days of Spanish marriage relations 



294 FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 

and power possessed, with King Philip, titles which included 
England, France, Naples, Jerusalem, Ireland, Spain, Sicily, 
Austria, Milan &c ; that Emperor Francis Joseph was not 
only Emperor of Austria but King of Hungary, Bohemia, 
Dalmatia, Croatia, Sclavonia, Gallicia, Illyria and Jerusalem; 
that the three principal countries of the Empire were now 
strong enough and prominent enough to be properly and 
permanently represented in this way ; that it would enhance 
the dignity of Great Braitain while placing Canada and Aus- 
tralia in a more equal and national position within the Empire ; 
that some such recognition had been supported in 1876 by 
Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Disraeli in the House of Commons ; 
and that it had been proposed by the Colonial Conference of 
1887. 

ADDITION TO THE KING'S TITLES 

Within a short time of the King's accession — on January 
29th — a dispatch was sent by Mr. Chamberlain to the Gov- 
ernors-General of Canada and Australia saying that the 
moment was opportune to consider the matter of the Monarch's 
titles, so as to recognize the "separate and greatly increased 
importance of the Colonies " and suggesting, personally, the 
phrase : " King of Great Britain and Ireland and of Greater 
Britain beyond the Seas." Mr. Chamberlain also expressed 
the belief that there were considerable difficulties in the way of 
such designations as King of Canada and King of Australia, 
owinor to the smaller Colonies which would desire to be also 
specially mentioned. Lord Minto, in his reply, expressed his 
Government's doubt as to the use of the word " Greater 
Britain," their preference for the title " King of Canada " and 
their willingness, in case of jealousies elsewhere, to propose 
that of " Sovereign of all British Dominions beyond the Seas." 
Lord Hopetoun stated that his Government preferred the 
designation of " Sovereign Lord of the British Realms beyond 
the Seas." The Colonial Secretary then communicated with 



FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 295 

Cape Colony, Newfoundland and New Zealand where the 
Governments all favoured some general designation. 

On July 27th, Lord Salisbury introduced a measure in 
the House of Lords authorizing the Sovereign "to make such 
addition to the style and title at present appertaining to the 
Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom and its Dependencies 
as to His Majesty may seem fit." Speaking unofficially, the 
Premier intimated that the Royal title would probably be 
"Edward VII., by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom 
of Great Britain and Ireland, and of all the British Dominions 
beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of 
India." During a short discussion in the House, two days 
later, Lord Rosebery suggested the title of " King of all the 
Britains " Lord Salisbury did not consider this admissible, 
however, and the measure passed its second reason without 
opposition. Eventually the bill became law and was the sub- 
ject of general approval at home and in the Colonies. The 
title was then officially proclaimed in the terms mentioned by 
Lord Salisbury. Speaking of this action, Sir Horace Tozer 
of Queensland told the Daily News of July 31st that the 
Commonwealth Act declared the desire of the Australian 
people, in its first words, to unite in one indissoluble Common- 
wealth " under the Crown " and he expressed the opinion that 
this action would "ratify and give expression " to that delib- 
erate decision. 

On May 10th, a Dublin newspaper called The Irish People 
published an article about the King which was not only sedi- 
tious in language but abominable in its allegations and state- 
ments — they could hardly be dignified with the name of 
charges. The paper was at once seized, and on the following 
day the Irish members precipitated a debate in Parliament 
upon the action thus taken. Mr. John Dillon pointed out that 
this paper was the recognized organ of the Nationalist move- 
ment, claimed that the action of the Government was grossly 



296 FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 

illegal, and declared that it was a blow struck at the freedom 
of the press. Mr. W. Redmond took much the same 
ground. Mr. George Wyndham, the Chief Secretary for Ire- 
land, spoke of the article as containing " outrageous, scurrilous, 
gross and coarse remarks," and as using language more foul 
than that of certain foreign papers which had been so com- 
plained of during the year. He had ordered it to be seized 
because it was guilty of "seditious libel," because it was his 
duty to prevent such a nuisance from being inflicted upon the 
public, and because similar action had been taken in the past 
year upon an article attacking the late Queen Victoria. Mr- 
John Redmond declared that the action was taken too late, 
anyway, and that plenty of copies had gone through the mail 
to America and the Continent. Mr. Balfour supported Mr. 
Wyndham and asked, if "obscene libel " and " a foul and 
poisoned weapon " were necessary aids to Irish agitation. He 
pointed out that the Sovereign was incapable of replying to 
this sort of statement, and declared that the publication was 
"a gross offense against public decency and public law and 
loyalty." Mr. H. H. Asquith, on behalf of the Opposition, 
took the ground that those concerned could appeal to the 
Courts, if injured, and that he could not but accept the Gov- 
ernment's description of the article and support them in their 
action. Messrs. Bryn-Roberts, Labouchere and John Burns 
criticised the Government, and the vote stood two hundred 
and fifty-two to sixty-four in approval of their action. 

The debate in the Imperial Parliament was, however, not 
the end of the matter. A newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, 
called The Tocsin, republished the article in question, and its 
proprietor, Mr. E. Findley, M. L. A , was at once expelled 
from the Victorian Legislature. The discussion and vote took 
place on June 25th, when Mr. Findley disclaimed responsi- 
bility as being publisher and not Editor, but defended the 
newspaper's statement that suppression of the Dublin paper 



FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 297 

was an illegal act. He expressed regret, however, that the 
article had appeared in his journal, in view of its having given 
offence to the House. The Premier of Victoria, Mr. A. J. 
Peacock, at once declared that no apology was sufficient unless 
it included unqualified disavowal and disapproval of the article 
in question, and moved the following Resolution: "That the 
Honourable member for Melbourne, Mr. Edward Findley, being 
the printer and publisher of a newspaper known as The Tocsin, 
in the issue of which, on the 20th instant, there is published a 
sedititious libel regarding His Majesty the King, is guilty of 
disloyalty to His Majesty and has committed an act discredit- 
able to the honour of Parliament, and that he, therefore, be 
expelled from this House." 

Mr. Irvine, Leader of the Opposition, endorsed the action 
of the Government, and declared that the republication — even 
to the appearance of a second edition of the paper — was a 
deliberate attempt to give currency to this "foul and scandal- 
ous libel" as being a fact. Many others spoke, and Mr. 
Findley in another speech said he had no sympathy whatever 
with the article, and was extremely sorry that it had appeared 
Orders had come from outside for thousands of copies of the 
paper and had not been filled. The House, however, was 
determined to take action, and he was expelled by a vote of 
sixty-four to seventeen. Mr. Findley ran again as a Labour 
candidate in East Melbourne and was opposed by Mr. J. F. 
Deegan — a man of no particular politics, but known for his 
loyalty, and supported on the platform by both party Leaders. 
The latter candidate was elected by a substantial majority. A 
very few other Australian papers had, meanwhile, republished 
the article, and perhaps half a dozen Canadian ones. 

The first Parliament of the reign closed on August 17th 
shortly after the King had suffered the loss of his distinguished 
sister, the Empress Frederick. With this event, which 
occurred on August 8th, there passed away what the Times 



298 FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 

well termed " a life of brilliant promise, of splendid hopes, of 
exalted ideals" — overruled with relentless rigour by a hard 
fate which brought her liberal principles into conflict with the 
iron will of Bismarck, nullified her capacity by the opposition 
of the Court of Berlin, and removed her husband by death at 
the very moment when the opportunity of power and position 
seemed to have come. The King, accompanied by Queen 
Alexandra and Princess Victoria, at once left for Fredericks-. 
hof. They were received at Homburg by the Emperor 
William and conducted to the Castle. The funeral took place 
amid scenes of stately solemnity on August 13th and the 
Emperor and the King were present as chief mourners. 
While the obsequies were proceeding memorial services were 
held in England at the Chapel Royal, St. James's, in St. Giles's 
Cathedral, Edinburgh and in various other churches through- 
out the country. 

PUBLIC INCIDENTS AND FUNCTIONS 

Meanwhile, various incidents illustrative of the King's 
tact and influence upon public affairs had occured. His well- 
known interest in American affairs was shown on June 1st by 
an official reception given at Windsor Castle to the members 
of the New York Chamber of Commerce who were visiting 
Eneland as quests of the London Chamber of Commerce. 
Accompanied by Lord Brassey and the Earl of Kintore, some 
twenty-five gentlemen were presented to His Majesty and 
Queen Alexandra. They included General Horace Porter, 
Mr. Morris K. Jessup, the Hon. Levi P. Morton, the Hon. 
Cornelius N. Bliss and Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan. Some of 
the American expressions of opinion upon this not unusual 
courtesy to distinguished foreigners were extremely amusing. 
Others, such as that of the N. Y. Tribune were dignified and 
appreciative. Immediately upon hearing of the attempt on 
President McKinley's life on September 6th, the King sent a 



FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 299 

despatch of deepest sympathy and instructed the Foreign 
Office to keep him informed as to the President's condition. 
He was at the time spendjng a week with the King of Den- 
mark at Copenhagen and to that place the bulletins were duly 
cabled from Washington. 

On September nth His Majesty telegraphed to the 
American Ambassador at London : " I rejoice to hear the 
favourable accounts of the President's health. God grant that 
his life may be spared." After Mr. McKinley's death, three 
days later, the King immediately cabled the Ambassador : 
" Most truly do I sympathize with you and the whole Ameri- 
can nation in the loss of your distinguished and ever-to-be- 
regretted President." In his reply Mr. Choate declared that 
" Your Majesty's constant solicitude and interest in these trying 
days have deeply touched the hearts of my countrymen." The 
King ordered a week's mourning at Court and soon afterwards 
received a message from Mr. Choate voicing Mrs. McKinley's 
personal gratitude for the sympathy expressed. In replying, 
the King declared that the Queen and himself " feel most 
deeply for her in the hour of her great affliction and pray that 
God may give her strength to bear her heavy cross." On 
September 27th the American Ambassador was granted a 
special audience by His Majesty in London and presented the 
formal thanks of Mrs. McKinley and of the people of the 
United States for "the constant sympathy which you have 
manifested through the darkest hours of their distress and 
bereavement." 

During these months the King had not forgotten to show 
his continued appreciation of many of the interests to which, as 
Heir Apparent, he had given so much aid. At a General 
Council meeting of the Prince of Wales' Hospital Fund on 
May 1 ith, presided over by the Duke of Fife and attended by 
Lord Rothschild, Lord Farquhar, Lord Iveagh, Lord Reay, 
Mr. Sydney Buxton and others the chairman stated that it 



3 oo FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 

was held by His Majesty's wish in order to announce his 
resignation of the Presidency and consent to take the position 
of Patron. The King's place was to be taken by the Duke of 
Cornwall and York. Lord Rothschild spoke at some length 
upon the importance of the work initiated in this connection 
*by the King and of the valuable aid which they had conse- 
quently been able to give the hospitals and suffering poor of 
London. On June ioth a letter was made public, written by 
Sir Dighton Probyn on behalf of the King, expressing to the 
Royal Agricultural Society of England his earnest hope that it 
would succeed in raising the ,£30,000 which was needed for 
building purposes, subscribing two hundred and fifty guineas 
toward this end, and expressing not only His Majesty's interest 
in its future welfare but his pleasure at having been associated 
with it during twenty-two years of progress. On July 3rd the 
King and Queen Alexandra, accompanied by Princess Victoria 
and the Duchess of Argyll, received at Marlborough House 
some eight hundred nurses belonging to the Training Institute 
inaugurated by the late Queen. Badges were presented by 
Her Majesty to a couple of hundred and an address read and 
graciously answered. An incident typical of the King's courtesy 
and thouehtfulness was seen in his intimation to the Mar- 
quess of Dufferin, who, during the early part of the proceedings 
was standing bare-headed in the sun, to put on his hat — the 
King resuming his in order to create the opportunity. 

His Majesty took great interest during the year in the 
proposed National Memorial to his Royal mother. He had 
early appointed a special Committee of representatives to deal 
with the preliminaries and, on March 6th, a Report was sub- 
mitted by Lord Esher, as Hon. Secretary, recommending that 
a statue of Queen Victoria should be the central feature of 
such a Memorial, and the location be either the vicinity of 
Westminster Abbey or that of Buckingham Palace. Accom- 
panied by Mr. Balfour, Mr. Akers-Douglas and Lord Esher, 



FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 301 

the King visited the suggested sites that afternoon and finally 
approved a general position near Westminster Abbey. Large 
amounts were subscribed toward the project during the suc- 
ceeding months. An interesting incident occurred on July 
28th when a small deputation of ladies, including the 
Countess of Aberdeen, Lady Taylor and others connected 
with the National Council of Women in Canada, were received 
at Marlborough House by Queen Alexandra and tendered an 
address signed by twenty-five thousand women of the Domin- 
ion expressive of their earnest loyalty to the King and affection 
for his Consort. In replying, Her Majesty referred with spe- 
cial pleasure to the tribute paid the late Queen and spoke of 
the beauty of the volumes in which the address was incorpo- 
rated. 

ROYAL CHARITIES AND VISITS 

Toward the end of the year it was announced in the 
British Medical Journal that a gentleman who did not at 
present wish his name disclosed — afterwards understood to be 
Sir Ernest Cassel — had presented the King with a donation of 
,£200,000 for some philanthropic purpose to be selected, and 
that His Majesty had decided to devote the money to the 
erection of a Sanatorium in England for Consumptive patients. 
On January 22nd, 1902, the first Anniversary of Queen Victoria's 
death, the Times paid the following well-deserved tribute to 
the new Sovereign : " During the year that has gone by he 
has sedulously and successfully set himself to fulfill all the 
duties of a constitutional Sovereign. He has spared no pains 
to make himself familiar with his people, to study their needs, 
to discover their wishes, to express their instincts and their 
ideals. He has been able, in many ways, to promote national 
objects to a greater extent than, perhaps, would have been 
possible even with Queen Victoria. It is no secret that he is 
in cordial sympathy with the feelings of the immense majority 



302 FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 

of his subjects on the supreme issues which now dominate 
international politics. He has a high and keen perception of 
the honour of the nation, so closely bound up with that of the 
Royal House and with his own." 

The succeeding six months were very largely devoted to 
preparations for the Coronation, but the King, nevertheless, 
found time to do some travelling and visiting in the country and 
to carry out some very brilliant Court functions. As an illustra- 
tion of the way in which he sought to do every possible honour 
to his Queen-Consort, there may be instanced a letter written, 
by command, in reply to an inquiry from the Lord Mayor of 
London as to whether in drinking the second of the loyal 
toasts at public gatherings the company should stand or not. 
Sir Dighton Probyn observed in his letter that the King had 
no doubt as to what was right, and that in his opinion the 
toast of " Her Majesty, Queen Alexandra, the Prince and 
Princess of Wales and the other members of the Royal 
family " should be received standing, with a few bars of the 
National Anthem and " God bless the Prince of Wales." On 
February nth King Edward held the first Levee since his 
accession, and it was made the occasion for a revival of much 
old-time splendour. The Prince of Wales who had since his 
return home from the Colonies merged his title of Duke of 
Cornwall and York in the more historic and familiar designa- 
tion, was present together with a great and representative 
gathering. Bishops in lawn sleeves and scarlet hoods attended 
by chaplains in long black gowns and white bands, great law- 
yers in wigs and flowing robes, foreign officers and diplomatists 
in gorgeous and varied uniforms, British generals and admirals, 
and the picturesque Windsor uniforms of the Privy Council- 
lors, lent a brilliant appearance to a function at which most of 
the eminent men of the Kingdom were to be seen. 

Ten days afterwards His Majesty visited Lord and Lady 
Burton at Rangemore, and while there inspected the famous 



FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 303 

Bass and Company brewery and started a special brew to be 
called "the King's Ale" — only to be used on special occasions. 
Early in the year it had been decided by the King to pay 
what might be termed a Coronation visit to Ireland, accompa- 
nied by his wife. Unfortunately, unpleasant conditions of 
local agitation developed, and then came the outburst of 
Nationalist sympathy for the Boers, in the House of Com- 
mons, when Lord Methuen's defeat was announced. The 
result was that his Ministers advised the King not to under- 
take the trip at the time proposed, and its postponement was 
announced on March 12th, greatly to the regret of many in 
Ireland and out of it, Commencing on March 7th the King 
and Queen Alexandra paid a brief visit to the West of Eng- 
land and were loyally welcomed at Dartmouth, Plymouth, 
Stonehouse and Davenport, where certain official functions were 
performed. 

On March 14th, King Edward and Queen Alexandra held 
their first Court, and it was expected that the occasion would 
be the most stately and splendid in the modern social history 
of the nation. It fully equalled these anticipations, and the 
scene in the ball-room of Buckingham Palace eclipsed even 
the traditions of the French Imperial Court in the days of 
Napoleon III. It was well managed, it was attended by the 
greatest and best representatives of English public and social 
life, it was unusually brilliant in jewelry, in dresses and in uni- 
forms, it was stately in its setting and more animated and 
brighter in character than any similar function of the late 
Sovereign's reign — since its early years at least. The same 
success attended succeeding and similar occasions, and it might 
be distinctly appropriate to quote here views expressed by the 
Daily News of February 15th, 1901, when it spoke of the new 
reign as opening with splendid promise for the highest inter- 
ests of the country and with component elements in its Court 
for a period of extraordinary social brilliancy. " King Edward," 



3 o4 FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW REIGN 

observed this Radical organ, " is one of the most popular of 
Sovereigns, and his beautiful Queen sheds a lustre upon his 
Court for which it would be difficult to find a parallel. Ami- 
able, tender-hearted, actively philanthropic, and possessing 
exquisite taste, the Queen Consort is eminently qualified to be 
the bright particular star in the shining galaxy of our Court. 
The Royal Princesses are most highly accomplished and 
amiable ladies, each one of whom has achieved for herself a 
high place in the affections of the nation." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

The Empire Tour of the New Heir to 
the Throne 

IF Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, had been enabled at 
different times in his career to visit various portions of 
his future realms and to create influences and receive im- 
pulses which have told for good in the upbuilding of the Brit- 
ish Empire, his son and heir was destined to make a tour in 
1 901 which was still more impressive in character and influen- 
tial in import. The single visits of the Prince of Wales to 
India and Canada were made in days when they partook of 
an almost pioneer character, and they were chiefly important 
in moulding crude opinions into a more matured and organ- 
ized form. The tour of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall 
and York was, on the other hand, a result of clearly devel- 
oped conditions of Colonial power ; an embodiment of exist- 
ing aspirations toward Empire unity ; an expression of the 
loyalty existing between Mother Country and the Colonies 
and toward the Crown and British institutions. 

ORIGIN OF THE TOUR. 

It was on September 17th, 1900, that the Colonial Office 
first announced the assent of Her Majesty the Queen to the 
request presented by the combined Australian Colonies that 
H. R. H. the Duke of York should open their newly-estab- 
lished Parliament in the spring of 1901. It was stated in this 
announcement that " Her Majesty at the same time wishes to 
signify her sense of the loyalty and devotion which have 
20 305 



3 o6 THE EMPIRE TOUR OE THE NEW HEIR 

prompted the spontaneous aid so liberally offered by all the 
Colonies in the South African war and of the splendid gal- 
lantry of her Colonial troops." After the death of the Queen 
it was feared that the time might not be considered opportune 
for so distant a journey by the Heir to the Throne, but on Feb- 
ruary 14th, 1 901, the King announced in his speech to Parlia- 
ment that the proposed Australian trip would not be 
abandoned, and that it would be extended to the Dominion 
of Canada. " I still desire to give effect to her late Majesty's 
wishes * * * as an evidence of her interest, as well as my 
own, in all that concerns the welfare of my subjects beyond 
the seas.' 

FROM PORTSMOUTH TO MELBOURNE. 

As finally constituted the Royal suite consisted of H. S. 
H. Prince Alexander of Teck, brother of the Duchess ; 
Lord Wenlock, a former Governor of Madras ; Lieutenant 
Colonel Sir Arthur Bigge, so well known as the Private Secre- 
tary for many years of the late Queen Victoria ; Sir John 
Anderson, a prominent official of the Colonial Office ; Sir 
Donald Mackenzie Wallace, the eminent journalist and au- 
thor ; Captain, the Viscount Crichton, and Lieutenant, the 
Duke of Roxburghe, who acted as Military Aides ; the 
Hon. Derek Keppel and Commander Sir Charles Cust, R. N., 
who acted as Equerries ; the Rev. Canon Dalton as Chaplain ; 
Commander Godfrey-Tansell, R. N., A. D. C, and Major J. H. 
Bor, A. D. C. ; Lady Mary Lygon, Lady Catharine Coke 
and Mrs. Derek Keppel as Ladies-in-Waiting to the Duchess. 
Chevalier de Martino, a marine artist ; Mr. Sidney Hall and 
Dr. A. R. Manby were also attached to the staff. On March 
7th the Duke of York — who had now become also Duke 
of Cornwall — left Portsmouth accompanied by his wife and his 
large suite to make a nine-months' tour of the Empire ; to 
cover a distance of 50,000 miles by sea and shore under the 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 307 

British flag ; and to meet with varied experiences and an en- 
thusiasm of popular welcome which stamped the whole jour- 
ney as the most remarkable Royal progress on record. 

Three days after leaving Portsmouth the Ophir, which 
was commanded by Commander A. L. Winslow, most luxuri- 
ously fitted up and accompanied by H. M. S. Juno and the 
St. George, sighted the coast of Portugal, sailed into sunny 
waters off the shores at Lisbon and reached Gibraltar on 
March 13th, where the Royal visitors were welcomed by Gen- 
eral Sir George White, of Ladysmith fame, and who had been 
Governor for about a year. From the Rock the Ophi?' was 
escorted by two other ships of the Royal Navy to Malta, 
where Admiral Sir John Fisher and the Mediterranean fleet 
helped to render the welcome interesting and imposing, and 
from thence to Port Said and through the Suez Canal to 
Aden. Here a picturesque reception was given to the Duke 
and Duchess in a pavilion festooned with lights and filled with 
Indian and Arab ladies in robes of silks, officers in white 
uniforms, the Sultans of two tributary States and their dusky 
retinues. Surrounded by a guard of honour from the West 
Kent Regiment, with towering mountains of brown lava in the 
distance, and with groups of Somalis, Arabs, Hindoos and 
Seedees gazing at "the great lord of the seas," the Prince 
received an address of welcome. From here, through swel- 
tering days and heated nights, the Royal yacht traversed the 
Indian Ocean until Ceylon — " the pearl set in sapphires and 
crowned with emeralds" — was reached on April 12th. 

At Colombo, amidst a revel of Oriental colour and a lux- 
urious waste of Eastern vegetation ; with guards composed of 
planters in kharki, Bombay Lancers in turbans, and Lascoreen 
troops in crimson and gold ; surrounded by dense crowds of 
dancing and shouting natives, His Royal Highness received 
the official welcome of the Legislature and Municipal Councils 
and the Chamber of Commerce Thence the Royal party 



3 o8 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

proceeded inland to Kandy, winding their way upward through 
an exquisite mountain region where the fantastic shapes and 
eternal green of the mountain sides and the valleys and the 
gorges gleamed and radiated with colour from a myriad trop- 
ical trees, gorgeous orchids, climbing lilies and enormous ferns. 
The town itself was a bower of beauty, and here the visitors 
saw the Temple of the Tooth, which is an object of adoration 
to hundreds of millions in Burmah, China and India ; the pro- 
cession of the Elephants — a weird portion of the Buddhist 
ritual ; the devil dancers, who excel the Dervishes of the Sou- 
dan in the fantastic nature of their antics. On the succeed- 
ing day the Duke received an address from the planters of 
the Island, enclosed in a beautiful coffer of ivory; presented 
colours to the Ceylon Mounted Infantry, and medals to men 
who had returned from South Africa ; and in the evening held 
a Durbar, at which the native Chiefs were presented. 

A WILD SEA OF EASTERN COLOR. 

From Kandy back to Colombo went the Royal visitors, 
and at the capital they found " the white streets and blood- 
red earth were rivers of light and colour," as one picturesque 
correspondent described the scene. The British flag was there, 
and British merchants and the British Governor in the person 
of Sir J. West Ridgeway were there ; but all else was a wild 
sea of Eastern colour ; a myriad-voiced tribute of the torrid 
and brilliant tropics to the power of Western civilization. 
After a night on board the Ophir, with the war-ships in the 
harbour a blaze of colour and festooned with fire, the visitors 
left for Singapore on April 16th and arrived there five days 
later. Through the Straits of Malacca an experience was had 
of the most intense heat and keen tropical discomfort. The 
Duke and Duchess were received at Singapore in a pavilion 
hung with flags and flowers, by the Governor, Sir Frank Swet- 
tenham, and by the Sultans of Pahang, Perak and Selangor. 




THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CORNWALL AND YORK AT TORONTO, CANADA 

October 10, 1901. 




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THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 309 

This interesting trading centre, with its four hundred and fifty 
million dollars' worth of commerce and its population of min- 
gled Chinese, Dutch and Germans, was ablaze with decora- 
tions and filled with holiday-makers. A Royal reception was 
held in the Town-Hall on April 22nd attended by Chinese, 
Arabs, Malays, Tamils and representatives of all the medley 
of blood which makes up the East. There were a dozen 
deputations bringing addresses and adding to the steadily 
accumulating caskets of gold and silver and ivory and precious 
stones which the Duke was destined to possess in a measure 
only excelled by his Royal father's collection in the past. 

The Malays contributed an elephant's tusk set in gold, 
the men of Penang a great bamboo set in gold, and the Chinese 
of Malaya a fire-screen worked with Oriental skill and beauty. 
After this ceremony, and including dinner, the Duke and 
Duchess drove through the Chinese quarters and in the even- 
ing witnessed the strange procession of figured reptiles and 
demons, dragons and monsters of distorted fancy, which 
marked Chinese pleasure and indicated the loyalty of the coolies 
as their costly decorations and caskets and the presence at 
functions of richly-dressed men and women had already illus- 
trated the loyalty of the merchant class. An incident of the 
afternoon was the singing by five thousand school-children of 
mixed Eastern races and the presentation of a bouquet to the 
Duchess. The effect of " God Save the King " in their quaint, 
native accents was described as being strangely pathetic. On 
the following morning the Ophir steamed out of the harbour 
bound for Australia and left eastern civilization behind for the 
forms and customs of England transplanted upon Australian 
soil. The shores of Sumatra were coasted, the Straits of 
Banka, the Sea of Java and the beautiful Straits of Sunda 
were traversed ; the Equator was crossed and His Royal 
Highness willingly subjected to the quaint and immemorial 
usages of the occasion ; the Indian Ocean traversed and two 



3io THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

thousand five hundred miles of this part of the journey exper- 
ienced before the shores of the island- continent were sighted 
on May ist. 

The formal landing at Melbourne, for which all Australia 
was looking, took place on May 6th and the splendour of the 
reception far exceeded all expectations. For many weeks the 
people of the Commonwealth had been legislating, planning 
decorating and preparing for the visit of the Heir to the 
British Throne and his wife ; the dormant loyalty of years, 
aroused and developed by the events of the war and the 
despatch of thousands of troops to the front, had grown to a 
white-heat of interest and excitement ; the completion of con- 
federation and the union of the Colonies in one ereat Com- 
monwealth, which was now to be marked by the opening of 
the first Federal Parliament and stamped through this visit 
with Royal approval and British sympathy, enhanced the public 
interest. There was a great and stately setting at Melbourne 
for the functions which graced the occasion and, as the Ophir 
rested in the waters of the bay, surrounded hy British and 
foreign warships, with roaring salutes and a myriad of flutter- 
ing flags, there were excellent scenic preliminaries to the 
impressive landing ceremonies. From the St. Kilda Pier, 
through miles of beautiful, decorated streets, great arches and 
hundreds of thousands of cheering people, the Royal couple 
passed to Government House, welcomed also on the way by a 
gathering of thirty-five thousand school children singing " God 
Save the King." 

The whole spectacle was an extraordinary one. Mr. E. 
F. Knight, correspondent of the London Morning Post said 
that " it was a day of splendid pageants, stirring and impres- 
sive, and the extraordinary enthusiasm of the ovation given to 
the Duke and Duchess by the hundreds of thousands of Aus- 
tralians who packed the streets along the entire eight miles 
of route must ever stand out vivid in the memory of all who 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 311 

witnessed it." Mr. W. Maxwell, the correspondent of the 
Standard, declared that : "I have seen many Royal progresses 
but never have I seen one more hearty and spontaneous than 
that of the multitude of well-dressed men, women and children 
who thronged the streets daily for nearly two weeks." The 
scheme of decorations was splendid, the triumphal arches were 
authoritatively stated to be better and more numerous than 
anything yet seen in London itself, the gathering of Australian 
troops lining the streets was representative and effective, the 
spectators were almost everywhere dressed in black or dark 
clothing as a tribute to the late Queen, the evening illumina- 
tions were on a magnificent scale — buildings and arches and 
decorations being a flashing, gleaming mass of light and fire 
and varied brightness. A state dinner was given at Govern- 
ment House by Lord Hopetoun in the evening and, on the 
succeeding day, a great Levee was held and addresses received. 
All the leaders of Australian life and society were presented 
and every form or phase of loyalty was embodied in the 
addresses presented from public institutions. Another state 
dinner followed at Government House and on May 8th the 
University of Melbourne was visited and an honorary degree 
conferred upon His Royal Highness. A great procession 
of various trade and labour associations was then witnessed 
and the third day of the visit concluded with a well-managed 
and stately Royal reception at Government House. 

OPENING OF THE COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENT 

On May 9th the central ceremony of the tour was per- 
formed and a new British Commonwealth started upon its 
national course. The streets through which the Royal progress 
was made were packed with enthusiastic masses of people ; the 
great Exhibition Building in which the Parliament of Australia 
was to be formally inaugurated was filled with twelve thousand 
persons, representative of every form of Australian life and 



3 i2 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

character and achievement ; the scheme of decoration — blue 
and golden yellow and chocolate — was effective and bright, the 
black and white and purple of the universal mourning was 
brightened here and there amongst the people by scattering 
bits of uniform in blue and scarlet and gold. At noon, the 
distant sound of cheers and the blare of trumpets announced 
the approach of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. 
Amidst the strains of the National Anthem, and accompanied 
by the Governor-General and Countess of Hopetoun, they 
took their places upon the dais. Around the King's son and 
his wife were all the leaders of Australia ; in front of them, 
the Parliament, the classes and a substantial section of the 
masses. The Earl of Hopetoun read some formal prayers and 
then gave place to His Royal Highness who, in clear and dis- 
tinct tones read his speech to Parliament and the people. In 
it he spoke of himself as fulfilling the wish of the late Queen 
Victoria and his father, the King, and as representing their 
deep interest in Australia and warm appreciation of Australian 
help in the war and loyalty to the Crown. Of the future, His 
Majesty felt assured. 

" The King is satisfied that the wisdom and patriotism which have 
characterized the exercise of the wide powers of self-government hitherto 
enjoyed by the Colonies will continue to be displayed in the exercise of 
the still wider powers with which the United Commonwealth has been 
endowed. His Majesty feels assured that the enjoyment of these powers 
will, if possible, enhance that loyalty and devotion to his Throne and Em- 
pire of which the people of Australia have already given such signal proofs. 
It is His Majesty's earnest prayer that this union, so happily achieved, 
may, under God's blessing, prove an instrument for still further promoting 
the welfare and advancement of his subjects in Australia, and for the 
strengthening and consolidation of his Empire." 

The Duke then declared the Parliament open in the name 
and on behalf of his Majesty. He also read a cablegram just 
received from the King : " My thoughts are with you on the 
day of the important ceremony. Most fervently do I wish 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 313 

Australia prosperity and happiness." The members of Parlia- 
ment then took the oath of allegiance administered by Lord 
Hopetoun. Meanwhile, as His Royal Highness declared the 
Houses of Parliament open, and while the immense standing 
audience was making the building echo with a mighty cheer, 
the Duchess touched an electric button, and from every school- 
house in the Commonwealth there waved the Union Jack as a 
sign that the great function was completed. Amidst cheering 
multitudes the Royal couple then drove back to Govern- 
ment House. In the evening a brilliant concert was given 
under the auspices of the Commonwealth Government. On 
the following day fifteen thousand Australian troops were 
reviewed in the presence of one hundred and forty thousand 
people — infantry, mounted men, engineers, army service corps, 
army medical corps, ambulance corps and cadets — representa- 
tive of all the States and of all branches of the system together 
with blue-jackets and marines from the Royal Navy. 

Then came a state dinner at Government House. On 
May nth an afternoon reception was given by the Victorian 
Government and Parliament at the same place, and on Mon- 
day May 13th, His Royal Highness and the Duchess visited 
the famous golden city of Ballarat, inspected one of its great 
mines and laid the foundation-stone of a monument to Austra- 
lian soldiers who had fallen in South Africa. Tuesday saw an 
interesting school-children's fete and a reception by the Mayor 
and Corporation of Melbourne On May 14th, Their Royal 
Highnesses presented prizes to the scholars of the united 
Grammar Schools of Victoria, and the Prince spoke to the 
boys of the stately and historical events of the past few days. 
" Keep up your traditions and think with pride of those edu- 
cated in your schools who have become distinguished public 
servants of the state, or who have fought, or are still fighting, 
for the Empire in South Africa." To another great gatherino- 
of twenty thousand children the Duke was both eloquent and 



3H THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

impressive. " May your lives be happy and prosperous, but 
do not forget that the youngest of us have responsibilities 
which increase as time goes on. If I may offer you advice I 
should say : Be thorough, do your level best in whatever work 
you may be called upon to perform. Remember that we are 
all fellow-subjects of the British Crown. Be loyal, yes, to your 
parents, your country, your King and your God." 

After a rousing farewell from the people of Melbourne, a 
special train was taken on May 18th by the Royal couple for 
the capital of Queensland. 

AT BRISBANE AND SYDNEY 

Every town, or settlement, or mining camp on the way 
contributed its cheers and shouts from crowds of sturdy Aus- 
tralians, and on May 20th, Brisbane was reached and an 
enthusiastic welcome received in the drive through crowded 
and beautifully decorated streets. At Government House, 
where the Royal guests were received by Lord Lamington, 
Lieutenant-Governor of the State, twenty-two deputations 
attended to present addresses — as compared with forty-eight 
at Melbourne. In the evening, a brilliant illumination of the 
city marked the event. On the following day a review of 
troops took place, and the Duke and Duchess enjoyed the 
patriotic singing and happy sports of some five thousand chil- 
dren. The evening saw an aboriginal Corrobberee performed 
for their benefit, and on the 23rd of May, the foundation-stone 
of a new Anglican Catheral, which was being erected as a 
memorial to the late Queen Victoria, was laid by His Royal 
Highness amid appropriate and dignified ceremonial. In the 
afternoon the Agricultural Exhibition was visited and a splen- 
did demonstration of welcome received from over thirty thou- 
sand people. The following and last day at Brisbane included 
a Levee, an afternoon reception and a concert. Each evening 
had seen a formal state banquet. 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 315 

On May 24th the route was taken for Sydney, and a stop, 
was made near Combooya for a picnic in the bush, or " billy 
tea." Newcastle gave the Royal couple a rousing reception, 
and at Haukesbury the Ophir was boarded and the trip up 
the splendid harbour of Sydney commenced — -escorted by 
warships and welcomed by the roar of cannon from ships and 
shore. As the Duke and Duchess landed amid cheering 
sailors, pealing bells and the shouts of a massed concourse of 
people stretching far back from the landing-place, they were 
received at a sort of graceful portal, decked with flags, flowers 
and semi-tropical foliage, by the Governor-General, the Federal 
and State Governors and Premiers, the Mayor and others. 
The procession then passed along a three-mile route to Gov- 
ernment House with bands at intervals playing the ever- 
present National Anthem, with beautiful decorations and 
arches, and with cheering crowds, fluttering handkerchiefs and 
waving flags in every direction. In the evening there was the 
usual state dinner and more than usually striking illuminations. 
Of this reception the Sydney Morning Herald said the next 
day : " The acquisition of territory is a triumph of national 
achievement ; but it is a small thing beside this re-creation of 
a new Britain in another hemisphere. The demonstration in 
Sydney yesterday embodied the message to this effect which 
our people desire to transmit by favour of the Duke and 
Duchess to the centre of Empire." 

The ensuing event was a Royal review of nine thousand 
troops with the presence of one hundred and fifty thousand 
people as observers. Then came a brilliant Reception at 
Government House, and on the morning of May 29th a Levee 
attended by two thousand citizens and at which twenty-four 
addresses were received — including the various denominations, 
the Masons, and the Orangemen. That of the city was in a 
beautiful gold and jewelled casket. To these His Royal High- 
ness replied in eloquent language, and then knighted the 



3i6 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

Mayor of Sydney, Dr. James Graham, as he had already done 
the Mayor of Melbourne. A state dinner followed with con- 
tinued evening illuminations. The naval depot at Garden 
Island was visited in the morning, and in the afternoon a naval 
review witnessed. A second Reception followed at Govern- 
ment House, and on the succeeding day the commemoration- 
stone of a Queen Victoria Memorial addition to the Prince 
Alfred Hospital was laid by the Duke. In his speech he 
expressed a doubt "whether anymore fitting memorial to that 
great life could have been chosen, for sympathy with the suf- 
fering was an all-pervading element in the noble and beautiful 
character of her who was your first Patron and with whose 
name the Hospital will now be associated for all time." At 
the Univerityof Sydney the Royal visitor was given an honor- 
ary degree amid the amusing chaff of a reception which was as 
hearty and enthusiastic as it was hilarious. A Citizen's Con- 
cert followed in the evening, and on the next day His Royal 
Highness conferred fourteen hundred medals upon volunteers 
who had returned from the war. In the afternoon there was 
a brilliant garden party at Government House. On Sunday a 
sermon was listened to at St. Andrew's Cathedral, preached 
by Archbishop Saumarez Smith, and Monday being the 
Duke's birthday was observed as a public holiday. In the 
afternoon a visit was paid to the Young People's Industrial 
Exhibition where five thousand school children sang a special 
Ode for the occasion. In the afternoon the Duke departed 
for a couple of days' shooting, and the Duchess visited the 
neighbouring Blue Mountains. 

On June 6th, after a very cordial "send-off" from the 
people, the Royal party boarded the Ophir and started for 
Auckland, New Zealand. Five days later they found that 
loyal city alive with enthusiasm, crowded with people and 
decorated to the extreme limit. They were welcomed by the 
Governor, Lord Ranfurly and the Premier, Mr. R. J. Seddon. 





THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CORNWALL AND YORK AT NIAGARA FALLS, CANADA 

October 13, 1901. 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 317 

The latter presented an address in a superb casket made of 
New Zealand wood and gold, silver, and enamel, in the shape 
of a Maori war canoe. The ceremony of presentation and the 
reply occurred on board ship. Immediately upon landing the 
Duchess touched the key of a telegraph instrument, and flags 
waved and guns roared a welcome in every city and town of 
New Zealand. The popular welcome in the streets was 
tumultuous and the arches particularly impressive, while one 
of the incidents of the Royal progress to Government House 
was a living Union Jack composed of two thousand children 
dressed to fit the design. In the afternoon eleven addresses 
were received, and during his reply the Duke said : " I look 
forward to making known to His Majesty how strong I have 
found the feeling of common brotherhood and readiness to 
share in the responsibilities of the Empire, and earnestly trust 
that the results of the journey maybe to stimulate the interest 
of the different countries in each other, and so draw even 
closer the bonds which now unite them." 

ROYAL WELCOME IN NEW ZEALAND 

A state dinner followed this event and an evening Recep- 
tion. The succeeding day a Royal review of forty-three hun- 
dred troops occurred, with twelve thousand spectators, and was 
followed by a luncheon to four hundred veterans of the South 
African and Maori wars, at which the Duke of Cornwall and 
York made one of the several impromphi speeches delivered 
during his tour. Speaking of the combination of old veterans 
and young soldiers he said : " There is nothing like a chip of 
the old block " — to which some one responded with " You're 
one yourself" — "when one knows that the old block was hard, 
of good grain. and sound to the core, and if, in the future, 
whenever and wherever the Mother-hand is stretched across the 
sea, it can reckon on a grasp such as New Zealand has given 
in the present." This speech evoked tremendous cheering. 



3 i8 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

Later, the foundation-stone of the Queen Victorian School for 
Maori Girls was laid, and in the evening, after a state dinner 
at Government House, the Royal visitors attended a Recep- 
. tion given by the Mayor, and drove through splendidly illumi- 
nated streets. The next few days were spent amongst that 
most picturesque, gallant and chivalrous of native peoples — 
the Maoris. Expressions of the most intense and unaffected 
loyalty and contentment with British rule were universal. 
Most interesting sights were witnessed and Maori customs 
studied — including war and other dances, songs of welcome 
and of challenee to enemies, and mimic battles fought with 
native skill and zest. 

Wellington was reached on Waterloo Day (June 18th) 
and the route to Government House was spanned by a dozen 
handsome arches — two of which had been erected by the 
enthusiastic Maoris. After the conferring of some knighthood 
honours the Royal visitors in the afternoon watched a pro- 
cession of Friendly Societies and laid the foundation-stone of 
a new Town-Hall. In the evening there were the usual state 
dinner, Reception and illuminations. On the following day 
three hundred medals were presented to South African veterans 
and seventeen deputations received. A state Reception was 
attended at the Parliament Buildings in the evening and the 
next day was devoted to visiting certain great industries and 
charitable institutions. On June 20th the foundation-stone of 
new Government Railway offices was laid amid torrents of 
rain and then the departure was made for Christchurch which 
was reached in a few hours amid the welcome of pealing bells, 
cheering people and roaring guns. Here the foundation-stone 
of a statue of Queen Victoria was laid in the presence of a 
great throng of people. The Sunday sermon of next day was 
preached by the Bishop of Christchurch and, on Monday, June 
24th, a review of eleven thousand troops was held (including 
three thousand cadets) in the presence of sixty thousand 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 319 

spectators. A feature of the drive to the review ground was a 
welcome sung by eight thousand school children. A luncheon 
to the war veterans was also given here and militant New 
Zealand was well represented in the speeches. 

Dunedin was reached by train on the following evening 
and in the Royal saloon the Hon. John Mackenzie — whose 
health had prevented him attending the formal ceremony at 
Wellington — was knighted by the Duke and personally invested 
with his Order. The city was found to be spanned everywhere 
with arches. Several functions were combined here and His 
Royal Highness received addresses in a special pavilion, pre- 
sented medals and inspected the veterans. The Corporation 
address was in a box modelled after a Maori meeting-house 
and made of gold, silver and bronze. Another military luncheon 
followed and in the afternoon a children's demonstration was 
attended and the Pastoral and Horticultural Shows visited. 
At Lyttleton, on the following day, another foundation-stone 
of a Queen Victoria statue was laid and then the Royal couple 
left for Tasmania after the Duke had issued a farewell address 
speaking of the enthusiasm of his reception, the loyal and 
military spirit of the people, the splendid qualities of the 
Maoris and the exquisite beauty of New Zealand scenery. 

The Hobart welcome was given on July 3rd and a most 
tasteful, loyal and enthusiastic one it was. There were a dozen 
triumphal arches and the civic address was presented in a 
beautiful pavilion specially erected. The usual state dinner 
and Reception followed. In the morning a Levee was held 
and thirty addresses received from the Churches and Friendly 
Societies, the Freemasons and the Orangemen, the Half-castes 
and the Chinese. During his reply the Duke referred to the 
Island's entry into the Commonwealth and said: "I trust 
that the hopes and aspirations which prompted her people to 
enter this great national union may be fully realized in the 
future prosperity of the Commonwealth and in the greatness, 



3 2o THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

power and solidarity of the Empire." In the afternoon the 
foundation-stone of a statue to Tasmanian soldiers who had 
fallen in the war was laid by the Duke and an eloquent speech 
delivered in which reference was made to the event as being a 
testimony to " that living spirit of race, of pride in a common 
heritage and of a fixed resolve to join in maintaining that heri- 
tage ; which sentiment, irresistible in its power, has inspired and 
united the peoples of this vast Empire." A log-chopping con- 
test was then witnessed followed by an impromptu visit to 
inspect an arch in a poor and squalid part of the city. Another 
Reception was held in the evening accompanied by illumina- 
tions on sea and land. The succeeding day saw a review of 
two thousand troops, the presentation of war medals, a child- 
ren's demonstration, a trades' procession, a Reception by the 
Mayor in the City Hall with the singing of a special Ode, and 
illuminations and a fire brigade procession in the evening. 
Sunday was spent quietly and then the Royal yacht sailed for 
Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. 

IN SOUTH AND WESTERN AUSTRALIA 

Here the Duke and Duchess were formally received on 
July 8th by the Lieutenant-Governor, Lord Tennyson, and 
his Ministers, and enthusiastically welcomed in crowded and 
tastefully decorated streets, bathed in a bright and genial sun- 
shine. There were four arches — though ^2000 of the grant had 
been expended on the poor instead of on temporary decora- 
tions. At the Town-Hall an address was received and at the 
the same time twelve hundred homing pigeons were liberated to 
carry news of the Royal arrival to all parts of the State. A 
state banquet followed in the evening and after the Lev^e on 
the next day a number of addresses were received. Mean- 
while the Duchess visited the two local hospitals. Her Royal 
Highness also attended a football match in the afternoon and 
received a brilliant assemblage of people in the evening — the 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 321 

Duke being compelled to have a tooth extracted. On the 
succeeding day the Art Gallery was visited and a bust of the 
late Lord Tennyson unveiled and an honorary degree accepted 
from the Adelaide University by His Royal Highness, who 
also laid the corner-stone of a new building in connection with 
this institution. Later, a demonstration of six thousand child- 
ren was attended and a Reception held in the evening. The 
next day was devoted to shooting and to seeing an exhibition 
of sheep-shearing, bullock-riding and buck-jumping, with a 
military Tattoo in the evening and the usual spectacle of bril- 
liant illuminations. The last day, but one, in South Australia 
included in its programme the laying of a foundation-stone for 
a Maternity Home in memory of Queen Victoria, and the 
review of four thousand troops with a state concert at night. 
On Sunday, a recently-completed Nave in St. Peter's Cathe- 
dral was dedicated by the Bishops of Adelaide and New- 
castle and a tablet to South African heroes unveiled by the 
Duke. 

The voyage was then resumed for Freemantle and Perth, 
in Western Australia, but stress of weather on July 2nd caused 
the Ophirio put in at Albany, instead, and there the surprised 
and delighted people gave the Duke and Duchess a rousing 
welcome as they took the train for Perth. The State capital 
was reached two days later and, amid perfect weather, through 
great crowds and a dozen splendid arches, the Royal progress 
was made to the Town Hall where the inevitable address was 
received. In the evening there was the usual state dinner 
given by the Governor, Sir Arthur Lawley, and ensuing 
Reception. On the following day the programme included a 
Levee, the reception of addresses, the laying of the foundation- 
stone of the State's monument to its sons lying on the South 
African veldt, the presentation of war medals and a civic 
Reception and state concert. The last two days of the 'visit 
were devoted to attendance at a state service in St. John's 



322 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

Cathedral where the Duke unveiled a brass tablet in memory 
of South African heroes, laying the foundation-stone of a new 
building connected with the Museum, a visit to the Mint, an 
enthusiastic welcome given by a children's demonstration and 
a visit to the Zoological Gardens. Before sailing for South 
Africa on July 26th, the new Heir Apparent addressed a formal 
farewell to the people of Australia in the form of a letter to 
the Earl of Hopetoun. Reference was made at some length 
to the twenty-live thousand troops reviewed during the visit, 
to the educational systems of the States, to the loyalty exhibited 
to the King and the generous personal reception given by 
the people, to the hospitality of Governments and the good 
management and kindness of officials. Finally he said : 

" We leave with many regrets, mitigated, however, by the hope that 
while we have gained new friendships and good will, something may also 
have been achieved towards strengthening and welding together the 
Empire, through the sympathy and interest which have been displayed in 
our journey both at home and in the Colonies. The Commonwealth and 
its people will ever have a warm place in our hearts. We shall always 
take the keenest interest in its welfare, and our earnest prayer will be for 
its continued advancement not only in material progress, but in all that 
tends to make life noble and happy." 

The response of the press to this Message was pronounced 
and may be represented by the statement of the Melbourne 
Argus on June 29th, that from first to last "the Australasian 
visit was a success, in every way worthy of its statesmanlike 
conception and purpose." The Royal couple came from King 
and Empire, and their mission was personally performed with 
unique success. " Everywhere they were received with demon- 
strations of delighted loyalty. They were living symbols of 
British unity. From all they will take back a reciprocal mes- 
sage to King and Empire. There is not a single blemish upon 
the record of the visit. Not one imprudent word was spoken, 
not one slight left a stinging recollection." 

Mauritius was reached on August 4th, and the brightly- 
decorated streets of the capital were crowded with Creoles, 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 323 

Mohammedai.s, Hindoos, and Chinese, while the French lan- 
guage was everywhere, and the English tongue seldom heard. 
Tropical flowers and foliage were brilliant and plentiful in the 
plans of decoration, and the streets were lined with a combi- 
1 nation of Bengal Infantry, Royal Artillery and Engineers. At 
Government House the first investiture of knighthood in the 
Island's history was held and various addresses received. The 
foundation-stone of a statue of Queen Victoria was then laid, 
a procession of Hindoo and Chinese children witnessed and 
a drive taken through the town. The next four days were 
spent in strict privacy at the residence of Sir Charles Bruce, 
the Governor, with the exception of a state dinner and Recep- 
tion on the first evening-. 

ROYAL RECEPTION IN SOUTH AFRICA 

War-tossed South Africa was sighted on August 13th and 
the landing took place at Durban, where the welcome was 
enthusiastic. There were many arches and excellent decora- 
tions, eleven thousand singing children, crowded streets and 
shouting spectators who included Zulus, Kaffirs of all kinds, 
Indian coolies and the whole white population. In a Royal 
pavilion, specially constructed, addresses were presented and 
answered, and the train was taken to Pietermaritzburg after 
luncheon with the Mayor and a distinguished gathering. A 
deputation of ladies had, meanwhile, presented the Duchess 
with a table-gong made of pompom shells mounted on a rhin- 
oceros horn. The railway to the capital of Natal was patrol- 
led by mounted troops, and the drive through the illuminated 
city and densely-packed streets to Government House was 
done at night. On the following day the place was found to 
be handsomely decorated with many arches and the first func- 
tion was the Royal inauguration of a new Town Hall. The 
cheering of the people was intense and continuous in the 
streets. Afterwards addresses were presented — that of the 



3 2 4 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

Corporation in a singularly beautiful casket of ivory and gold. 
In his eloquent speech the Duke referred to the events and 
sacrifices of the war. They had not been in vain. " Never 
in our history did the pulse of Empire beat more in unison ; 
and the blood which has been shed on the veldt has sealed for 
ever our unity, based upon a common loyalty and a determin- 
ation to share, each of us according to our strength, the com- 
mon burden." An address was also presented from Johannes- 
burg and specially replied to. 

In the afternoon there was an extraordinary assemblage, 
composed of the dignitaries of political and social life and the 
pick of the great British army in South Africa — a quarter of a 
million fighting men. It was a gathering of eleven holders of 
the V. C, and forty-three holders of the honour next in degree 
for bravery in the field — the D. S O. These famous medals 
were conferred by the Duke of Cornwall and York, and then 
a great deputation of Zulu Chiefs, clad in barbaric war para- 
phernalia, presented loyal congratulations. A reception was 
held in the evening and the city illuminated. The next day 
the voyage was resumed, and Simon's Bay reached on August 
19th. After landing, through a guard of one thousand blue- 
jackets, and receiving an address from the Mayor, the special 
train was taken to Cape Town. There the formal reception 
was given by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the 
President of the Legislative Council, the Archbishop, the 
Chief Justice, the Mayor, the President of the Africander Bond 
and other officials or public men. The reception in the streets 
was enthusiastic, and it has been said that more Union Jacks 
were displayed than at any other point on the tour. A Levde 
was held in the afternoon at the Parliament Buildings and two 
thousand citizens were presented, while addresses were received 
from many public bodies in Cape Colony, Orange River 
Colony, and Rhodesia. 




THE WELCOME TO THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CORNWALL AND YORK AT 
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 325 

A memorable event occurred on the succeeding day, when 
in the Government House grounds, His Royal Highness and 
the Duchess received over one hundred native chiefs who had 
come from all parts of South Africa, laden with unique and 
peculiar gifts, clad in extraordinary costumes and led by Lero- 
thodi of the Basutos and Khama, the famous Chief of Bechu- 
analand. Short speeches were interchanged, and then the 
Duke and Duchess drove to Grootschur, to visit Mr. Cecil 
Rhodes. On the following day the Duke accepted an honor- 
ary degree from the University of Cape Town — of which he 
was already Chancellor — and in the afternoon received some 
six thousand school children, Colonial and Dutch, who sang 
an Ode of welcome and presented a gift of Basuto ponies for 
the Royal children in far-away London. There was also an 
evening reception and the same splendid illuminations which 
had graced the previous night. The last day of the visit 
included the laying of the foundation-stone of a Nurse's Home 
in memory of the late Queen, and of the corner-stone of the 
new St. George's Cathedral. Despatches were interchanged 
with Lord Kitchener, and a letter written by His Royal High- 
ness to the Governor, Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, expressive 
of the deep gratitude of his wife and himself for their recep- 
tion and the earnest hope that peace would soon be restored. 
An investiture of knighthood was also held, and on August 
23rd the Royal couple were once more on the Ophir heading 
for distant Canada. 

ARRIVAL AT HISTORIC QUEBEC. 

After a voyage in which every kind of ocean weather was 
experienced, or suffered, the mighty St. Lawrence was reached, 
and finally the City of Quebec, on the 15th of September. The 
arrival was the commencement of a continental tour which 
proved a fitting crown to the whole splendid Empire progress 
and a more than appropriate continuation of the King's visit 



326 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

of forty years before — in which he had touched only the 
smaller central Provinces of the great railway-girdled Domin- 
ion which now welcomed his son and his son's Consort. On 
Monday, September 17th, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall 
and York, accompanied by the Earl of Minto, Governor-Gen- 
eral, and Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Prime Minister — who had 
gone down the river to meet them — set their feet upon Cana- 
dian soil. The Dominion Ministers were present to join in 
the welcome, and the procession then passed through the city, 
many thousands of people lining the streets, and three thous- 
and French children at the St. Louis Gate sino-jncr " O Can- 
ada, Land of Our Ancestors.'' At the Parliament Buildings, 
the Hon. S. N. Parent, Mayor of Quebec and Premier of the 
Province, read a lengthy address which referred to this visit as 
a proud privilege, expressed the renewed devotion of the citi- 
zens to the Crown and person of their Sovereign, and spoke 
of French-Canadians as " a free, united and happy people, 
faithful and loyal, attached to their King and country, and 
rejoicing in their connection with the British Empire and 
those noble self-governing institutions which are the palladium 
of their liberties." In his reply the Duke referred to the suc- 
cess of the Canadian troops at Paardeberg, and spoke with 
sorrow of the death of President McKinley. " It is my proud 
mission to come amongst you as a token of that feeling of 
admiration and pride which the King and the Empire feel in 
the exploits of the Canadians who rushed to the defence of 
the Empire." 

A Royal procession to the Citadel followed and in the 
afternoon the Duke and Duchess visited Laval University, 
where they were received by Archbishop Begin, the Rector, 
and five hundred clergymen of the Arch-diocese. In the 
address which was read by the Archbishop reference was made 
to the late Queen, to the accession of the present Sovereign, to 
the triumphal welcome on the banks of the mighty St. Lawrence 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 327 

which was being prepared for the nation's guests, and 
to the pleasure of the Church in sharing that welcome. "To 
the history of our Catholic Church belongs the honour of hav- 
ing forged between the English Throne and a French Cana- 
dian people solid bonds which neither adversity nor bribery 
can sever." Faith in the Church and loyalty to the Crown 
were the lessons they desired to inculcate. The University 
address was then read by the Rev. O. E. Mathieu, the Rector. 
His Royal Highness in replying and accepting the honorary 
degree of LL. D., paid a high tribute to Roman Catholicism 
in Canada. " I am glad to acknowledge the noble part which 
the Catholic Church in Canada has played throughout its his- 
tory ; the hallowed memories of its martyred missionaries are 
a priceless heritage ; and in the great and beneficial work of 
education and in implanting and fostering a spirit of patriotism 
and loyalty, it has rendered signal service in Canada and the 
the Empire." In the evening, a state dinner was held at the 
Citadel. 

During the ensuing morning the Royal review took place 
on the Plains of Abraham. It rained during the greater part 
of the proceedings and this, together with the cancellation of 
the proposed Reception, for which fifteen hundred invitations 
had been issued, threw a measure of gloom over the City. But 
neither the rain nor the sad death of the President of the 
United States could be helped and certainly the Duke never 
flinched from the discomforts of the former. There were some 
five thousand troops on the ground under command of Major- 
General O'Grady-Haly assisted by Lieutenant-Colonel the 
Hon. M. Aylmer as Adjutant-General. After the parade was 
over, His Royal Highness distributed the South African 
medals to the men and presented Lieut.-Colonel R. E. W. 
Turner, of the Queen's Own Canadian Hussars, with his V.C. 
and D.S.O. and a sword of honour from the City of Quebec. 
In the evening, as on the previous one, the city was brilliantly 



328 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

illuminated and the ships and river showed sudden blazes of 
light amid the blackness of surrounding night and through the 
flash of fireworks and gleam of electricity. The Royal couple 
gave a farewell dinner on the Ophir to a select number and in 
the morning started for Montreal. The journey was made in 
the splendid train built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Com- 
pany for the special purposes of this tour and destined to 
carry the Royal visitors all over the Dominion. Their imme- 
diate train of cars was preceded, as elsewhere throughout 
the country, by one bearing the Governor-General and Lady 
Minto. 

RECEPTION AT MONTREAL AND OTTAWA. 

Very few stops took place on the way to Montreal, where 
some change in the programme was to be made owing to the 
President's funeral. At Port Neuf, Three River's and Lano : 
raie, however, a few minutes' pause had been arranged. At 
the Montreal station the Royal couple were received by Mr. 
Raymond Prefontaine, M.P., Mayor of the city, in gorgeous 
official robes. With him were Archbishop Bruche'si, Vicar- 
General Racicot, Archbishop Bond, Lord Strathcona and 
Mount Royal, Mr. T. G. Shaughnessy, Senator Drummond, 
Rev. Dr. Barclay, Principal Peterson, Sir William Hingston, Sir 
W. C. Van Home and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. The Civic address 
was read in French and the Duke replied in English. Other 
addresses were presented from the Numismatic and Antiqua- 
rian Society, the Daughters of the Empire and the Baron de 
Hirsch Institute. There was an immense crowd present and the 
proceedings concluded with the introduction of a number of 
Indian chiefs to His Royal Highness and the presentation of 
medals to the South African veterans. 

The procession through the streets to Lord Strathcona's 
house, where the Royal visitors were to stay, was a rather 
swift drive and the throngs of people were not given very 
much time to see the Duke and Duchess. Elsewhere in 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 329 

Canada the rate was slower. Several beautiful arches deco 
rated the route. The cheers of the Laval students and the 
enthusiasm of five thousand school children on Peel Street 
were the most marked incidents of this parade through gaily 
decorated streets. In the evening Lord Strathcona enter- 
tained at dinner in honour of his Royal guests and the whole 
city was a blaze of light from electric illuminations and the 
fireworks on Mount Royal. The Reception in the evening 
was cancelled owing to the President's funeral. A visit was 
paid to the mountain in the morning and then followed the 
formal functions of a busy day. At McGill University an 
address was read by its Chancellor, Lord Strathcona, and 
an honorary degree received. Then followed an address from 
the Medical Faculty, read by Dr. Craik, and including the 
presentation of a casket of Labradorite — a native Canadian 
product. The Duke also formally opened the new Medical 
building. 

At Laval University the decorations were most elaborate 
and there was a great assemblage of local clergy. Archbishop 
Bruche'si extended a verbal, instead of written, welcome and 
informed the Duke that the clergy and Professors devoted 
themselves to training the youth of the University " in science 
and in arts, in loyalty to the throne, as well as in love of 
religion and country." An honorary degree was also given 
and accepted. Another place visited was the Royal Victoria 
Hospital which, like McGill University and its Medical Faculty, 
owed much to Lord Strathcona. At the Diocesan Institute 
an address was presented from the assembled Provincial Synod 
of Canada by the Lord Bishop of Toronto. In the afternoon 
the Duke and Duckess drove out to the Ville Marie Convent 
where they were received by the Archbishop of Montreal, the 
Lady Superior and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. An address was pre- 
sented and, as at Laval, the Duke replied informally though 
here, for the first time, he said a few words in French. A 



33Q THE EMPIRE TOUR OE THE NEW HEIR 

torchlight procession of the people, general illumination of the 
city and more fire-works, followed in the evening. At nine 
o'clock on the succeeding morning the Royal couple started 
for Ottawa. 

They remained in Ottawa from September 20th until 
September 24th. On the way to the capital a brief stop was 
made at Alexandria and an address received. The arrival at' 
Ottawa and the Royal progress through the city was marked 
by brilliant decorations, cheering crowds and finer weather 
than had been the case either at Quebec or Montreal. The 
Civic address was read by Major W. D. Morris in a pavilion 
erected on the Parliament grounds and eighteen other addresses 
were received. The reply of His Royal Highness was sym- 
pathetic and eloquent in language. It was, he said, impossible 
for him not to think of the difference between forty years ago 
and the present time. " Ottawa was then but the capital of 
two Provinces, yoked together in uneasy union. To-day it is 
a capital of a great and prosperous Dominion, stretching from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, the centre of the political 
life and administration of a contented and united people. The 
Federation of Canada stands permanent among the political 
events of the century just closed for its fruitful and beneficent 
results on the life of the people concerned." He hoped that 
mutual toleration and sympathy would continue and be extended 
to the Empire as a whole and that, more than ever, the people 
would remain " determined to hold fast and maintain the proud 
privileges of British citizenship." 

On leaving for Government House the Duke and Duchess 
were greeted with " The Maple Leaf," sung by thousands of 
school children and were given a great cheer by the students 
of Ottawa College. In the afternoon a visit was paid to the 
Lacrosse match between the Cornwalls and Ottawas and at 
night a state dinner was held at Government House. The 
city was illuminated on this and subsequent evenings in a way 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 331 

to rival the famous effects of the Pan-American Exposition at 
Buffalo. On the following morning an investiture of knight- 
hood was held at Government House followed by a drive 
through Hull. At noon the statue of Queen Victoria on the 
Parliament grounds was unveiled amid the usual surroundings 
of state and soldiers and crowds. South African medals were 
presented by the Duke and to Lieutenant E. J. Holland was 
given his V. C. as well as medal. His Royal Highness was 
then lunched by a number of prominent gentlemen at the 
Rideau Club and in the afternoon a garden party was held at 
Government House. In the evening there was a quiet dinner 
and drive through the city to see the illuminations. 

On the following day, Sunday was quietly observed and 
Christ Church Cathedral attended in the morning by the Royal 
couple and the Governor-General and Lady Minto. Bishop 
Hamilton officiated and the sermon was preached by the Rev. 
Mr. Kittson. The morning of September 23 was notable for 
the entertainment given by the lumbermen of Ottawa. The 
Duke and Duchess travelled on a special electric car to their 
destination, went in canoes with voyageurs through the rapids, 
descended the famous lumberslides of the Chaudiere, witnessed 
a race of war canoes, saw tree cutting and logging, watched the 
strange dances of the woodsmen, ate a lumbermen's lunch in a 
shanty, heard the jolly songs of the voyageurs, and listened to 
a speech from a habitant foreman which made them and all 
Canada laugh heartily. In the evening a brilliant Reception 
was held in the Senate Chamber. 

At noon on the following morning the Royal couple left for 
Winnipeg through crowded streets and cheering people. Before 
her departure the Duchess of Cornwall was given a handsome 
cape by the women of Ottawa. The presentation was made 
by Lady Laurier, on behalf of the contributors, at Government 
House. In Montreal a beautiful gift had also been made to 
her in the shape of a corsage ornament composed of a 



332 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

spray of maple leaves made of enamel and decorated with 
366 diamonds and one large pearl. It was presented by 
Lady Strathcona and Mrs. George A. Drummond. The Royal 
journey across the continent commenced with the departure 
from Ottawa and, between the capital of the Dominion and 
the metropolis of the West, a number of places were passed at 
a few of which the Royal visitors paused for a brief time. At 
Carleton Place there was a cheering crowd and gaily decorated 
station and sineing- school children ; at Almonte the town was 
enfkte and cheering could be heard from even the roofs of the 
distant cotton mills ; at Arnprior the whole population turned 
out and the decorations were extensive ; at Renfrew and Pem- 
broke the same thing occurred ; at Petawawa and Chalk River 
crowds of country people had gathered ; at Mattawa and 
North Bay the stations were gaily decorated and bands played 
their welcome. 

Everywhere in the wilds of Algoma and along the rocky 
shores of Lake Superior little groups of settlers might be seen 
at the lonely stations watching for a sight of the Duke and 
Duchess. At Missanabie, a stop was made to see a Hudson's 
Bay post and stockade and at White River, the coldest place 
in Canada east of the Yukon, a picturesque party of Indians 
was seen. A stop was made at Schrieber, and the whole popu- 
lation turned out to see an address presented to the Duke and 
a bouquet to the Duchess. Late in the evening of the 25th 
Fort William was reached and the school children of the town 
saner " The Maple Leaf " from an illuminated stand at the 
station. At Port Arthur the Duke accepted a case of mineral 
specimens. Winnipeg was reached at noon of the next day 
after a quick journey through the " Lake of the Woods " dis- 
trict and a splendid welcome was accorded the Royal visitors. 
Flags flew everywhere and decorations abounded throughout 
the city. At the station about a hundred of Manitoba's lead- 
ing men were gathered. The Governor-General and Lady 




THE DEPARTURE Of THE " OPHIR " FROM PORTSMOUTH 
With the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall starting on their tour around the Empire, March 1G, 1901. 




THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CORNWALL AND YORK ON THE BRIDGE OF 

THE "OPHIR" 

They are leaving England on their tour around the Empire and waiving farewell to King Edward and 

his party, who were on the •• Albert and Victoria." 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 333 

Minto and Sir Wilfrid Laurier were also present to assist in 
the welcome, as their trains had preceded the Royal party to 
Winnipeg. The same order was observed in this connection 
throughout the Canadian tour. 

IN WINNIPEG AND THE WEST 

The Royal procession then passed along the wide main 
street of the city, through splendid arches of wheat, to the 
City Hall, where Mayor Arbuthnot presented the address to 
the Duke. Archbishop Machray then presented an address 
from the Church of England in Rupert's Land, expressive of 
welcome and attachment to the Throne and Empire. Arch- 
bishop Langevin, on behalf of the Catholics of Manitoba and 
the West, in his address dwelt upon the French pioneer 
labours in the Northwest, and declared the pride felt by the 
people of his Church in having defended England's noble 
standard, even at the expense of their blood. " We thank God 
for the amount of religious liberty we enjoy under the British 
flag." In his reply, the Duke of Cornwall and York spoke of 
the marvellous progress made by Winnipeg — " the busy centre 
of what has become the great granary of the Empire, the poli- 
tical centre of an active and enterprising population in the full 
enjoyment of the privileges and institutions of British citizen- 
ship." Then followed the presentation of South African 
medals and a luncheon at Government House attended by 
many leading citizens. In the afternoon the University of 
Manitoba was visited and an address read by Archbishop 
Machray, Chancellor of the University. A state dinner was 
given in the evening at Government House and about ten 
o'clock the Royal visitors passed through the crowded and 
illuminated streets of the city to the train, followed by a torch- 
light procession and the sound of many cheers. 

At Regina, on September 27th, a loyal welcome was 
received. The procession to Government House was followed 



334 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

by the reception of twelve addresses from Territorial centres 
and the distribution of South African decorations. A luncheon 
was given by Lieutenant-Governor Forget, and at 3 p. m., the 
Royal visitors departed for Calgary. There, on the following 
morning, they witnessed a thoroughly typical Western scene 
and received a Western welcome. The streets were gaily deco- 
rated and many cheers followed the Duke and Duchess as 
they proceeded to Victoria Park, where a review of 240 
Mounted Police was held, medals presented to the South 
African veterans and Major Belcher decorated with his C. M. G. 
At another point near the city the Duke then met a large 
party of Indians and received from them an address which 
recited their past privations and present progress and expresed 
the hope that when His Royal Highness should accede to the 
Throne it would be "to long reign over us, our children, and 
the other many peoples of the British Empire in peaceful 
security and abundant happiness." 

Speeches were made by a number of the Chiefs and the 
Duke replied in most picturesque terms. " The Indian is a 
live man, his words are true words and he never breaks faith. 
And he knows that it is the same with the Great King, my 
father, and with those whom he sends to carry out his wishes. 
His promises last as long as the sun shall shine and the waters 
flow. And care will ever be taken that nothing- shall come 
between the Gteat King and you, his faithful children." Indian 
children then sang the National Anthem, and, after witnessing 
an extraordinary spectacle of broncho busting and cow-boy 
riding, the journey was resumed to the Rockies towering up 
on the horizon. Sunday was spent in traversing the marvel- 
lous panorama of nature which spreads out through the Rockies 
and Selkirks, the mighty glaciers, rushing rivers, lightning 
changes of colour and varied splendours of scene. A stop was 
made at Banff and at Lao-gran and Field, the stations were 
tastefully decorated with evergreens and flags. Revelstoke 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OE THE NEW HEIR 335 

was passed, the lower levels of the mountains traversed, the 
plains reached, and on the morning of September 30th the 
Royal train drew into Vancouver. 

Mounted Police and blue-jackets from the fleet were there 
and as the procession left for the Court House, where addresses 
were to be received, the deep-mouthed guns of the fleet in the 
harbour, the ringing bells of the city churches and the cheers 
of the people sounded a combined welcome. Through several 
arches and gay decorations — the Japanese and Chinese arches 
being noteworthy — the parade proceeded, with the Premier of 
Canada in a carriage at its head. At the pavilion, in front of 
the Court House, the Royal visitors were received by Mayor 
Townley, an address was presented and a bouquet given to 
the Duchess as well as a handsome portfolio of British Colum- 
bia views from the Local Council of women. The Duke was 
very brief in his reply. The next thing on the programme was 
the opening of the new Drill-Hall and the presentation of 
South African medals. The Boy's Brigade was also inspected. 
After luncheon a visit was paid to the Hastings Saw-Mill, and 
a drive taken through the splendid trees and vistas of Stanley 
Park. At Brockton Point a drill of school children was held 
in sight of some seven thousand persons and a grand stand 
full of children looking on. Here the Duke presented a silken 
banner to the school which had won the prize for drilling 
and was given an enthusiastic reception. As the C. P. R. 
steamer, Empress of India, with the Royal party on board, 
passed in the evening across the Bay of Victoria the waters 
were illuminated with multitudes of lighted craft and the city 
was a vision of golden light with a background of surrounding 
blackness. 

Accompanied by five warships, the Duke and Duchess of 
Cornwall arrived at Victoria on the morning of October 1st 
and were greeted by Lieut.-Governor Sir Henri Joly de Lot- 
biniere as they landed. The drive through the decorated streets 



336 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

to the Parliament Buildings was the scene of much cheering 
and at the destination Their Royal Highnesses were received 
by the officials of the Province and an immense surrounding 
crowd. Mayor Hayward presented the Civic address and 
various deputations followed him. In his reply the Duke made 
no allusion to the international relations mentioned in one of 
the addresses but declared that Canadian sacrifices in South 
Africa had " forged another link in the golden chain which 
binds together the brotherhood of the Empire." Medals were 
distributed and the school children inspected. A drive fol- 
lowed through the gay streets of the city out to Esquimalt, 
where a barge was taken to the Admiral's flagship and luncheon 
served, with Real-Admiral Bickford as the host. 

In the afternoon the Agricultural Exhibition at Victoria 
was opened and in the evening the city and Parliament Build- 
ings were brilliantly lighted up by electricity and fireworks. 
After a state dinner at the Lieutenant-Governor's residence a 
Reception was held at the Parliament Buildings. The follow- 
ing day was a very quiet one. Her Royal Highness called on 
Mrs. Dunsmuir, wife of the Prime Minister, to express sym- 
pathy over a terrible disaster which had occurred at the 
Extension Mines and, after luncheon, the Duke and Duchess 
visited the Royal Jubilee Hospital. During the day the latter 
was presented by the miners of Atlin with a bracelet of gold 
nuggets. Late in the afternoon farewells were made and the 
voyage back to Vancouver commenced. From Vancouver they 
departed in the morning, the Duchess going to Banff where 
she stayed for a couple of days and the Duke going on to 
Poplar Point, Manitoba, forty miles from Winnipeg, where he 
enjoyed a couple of days' shooting with Senator Kirchhoffer. 
Winnipeg was reached on October 8th. They were cordially 
welcomed again and a visit was paid to Oglivie's Mill — said 
to be the largest in the Empire — and the direct journey for 
Toronto was then commenced. From North Bay, through 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 337 

the Muskoka region and on to the capital of Ontario, there were 
cheering crowds at every station. Huntsville, Bracebridge, 
and Gravenhurst were marked in this respect. At Orillia, 
Barrie and Newmarket short stops were made and, amidst 
gay decorations, singing children and cheering throngs, the 
Duke and Duchess appeared on the platform, received a few 
presentations and in the case of Her Royal Highness accepted 
bouquets of flowers. 

MEMORABLE RECEPTION AT TORONTO 

The occurrences at Toronto during the Royal visit were 
of a character to make history. The morning of October 
10th, when the Duke and Duchess arrived was gloomy and 
later on the rain poured with steady and depressive persistence. 
But it did not seem to affect the patience of the waiting crowds 
or dampen the enthusiasm of the reception. A special and 
beautiful station had been erected at the head of St. George 
Street and here, amid the patriotic songs of 6000 children, the 
Royal visitors were received by the Hon. G. W. Ross, Premier 
of Ontario and a number of his Ministers. The Vice-regal 
party and Sir Wilfrid Laurier had, as usual, arrived first. The 
procession followed through miles of decorated streets and 
throngs of cheering people until the City Hall was reached 
and a scene of colour and serried masses of people witnessed 
such as Toronto had never known. The streets were lined 
with ten thousand troops stretching from the station to the 
Hall and the Alexandra Gate, erected by the Daughters of the 
Empire, and the Foresters' Arch, erected by the Independent 
Order of Foresters, were notable features of the welcome. At 
the City Hall the Royal couple were received by Mayor O. A. 
Howland and welcomed by the singing of a large trained 
chorus of voices. An immense crowd was present and addresses 
were handed in by eleven deputations and replied to at some 
length. 



338 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

During the afternoon a presentation was made to the 
Duchess by Miss Mowat, daughter of the Lieutenant-Governor, 
on behalf of the women of Toronto. It consisted of a writing 
set made of Klondike gold and Canadian amethysts and 
chrystal. The case was made of Canadian maple. A state 
dinner was given at Government House in the evening by Sir 
Oliver Mowat and the Royal couple afterwards attended a Con- 
cert at Massey Hall where Madame Calve and others sang. 
The streets were filled with enthusiastic crowds far into the night 
and the illuminations were something unequalled in the history 
of the city and unexcelled by any others during the Royal tour 
in Canada. Powerful search-lights from the top of the City 
Hall tower were an unique feature of the demonstration. 

On the following morning — October 12th — the Royal 
review took place on the Exhibition grounds. It was unques- 
tionably the most brilliant and effective military spectacle ever 
seen in Canada. Nearly eleven thousand men were mustered 
under command of Major-General O'Grady-Haly. Before the 
review commenced His Royal Highness presented the South 
African medals to a number of the soldiers and the V. C. to 
Major H. C. Z. Cockburn. To the latter also was given a 
sword of honour on behalf of the City Council. Colours were 
presented to the Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry and 
the Royal Canadian Dragoons in the name of the King and 
as a mark of appreciation for their services in the war. The 
march past then took place. There were said to be twenty- 
five thousand people on the grounds and the streets and 
approaches were lined with many other thousands. In the 
afternoon the Duke and Duchess visited the Bishop Strachan 
School and the Duke planted a tree in- Queen's Park and 
reviewed the Fire Brigade. Then came the state visit to 
Toronto University, the presentation of an address by the 
Chancellor, Sir William Meredith, and the bestowal of the 
honorary degree of LL. D. 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 339 

In the evening a Reception was held in the Parliament 
Buildings when two thousand people shook hands, amid 
brilliant surroundings, with the Heir to the Throne and 
his wife. Prior to this a very large state dinner had been held 
in the halls of the same building with His Excellency the 
Governor-General as host. The city was again most bril- 
liantly illuminated and filled with waiting throngs anxious to 
see and cheer the Royal visitors. Early in the following 
morning they left Toronto for a rapid trip through Western 
Ontario. As the Royal train rushed through the populous 
centres, or quiet villages of this rich section of the country, 
every railway station was crowded with cheering people 
anxious for a sight of their future Sovereign and his Consort. 
At Brampton a short stop was made, and a mass of beautiful 
roses, carried by eight children, was presented to the Duchess 
from the well-known rosaries of the town. At Guelph a plat- 
form had been erected near the station, and here two thousand 
school children sang patriotic songs. At Berlin there was 
another chorus and another exquisite bouquet of flowers for 
the Duchess. There was a great crowd of people at this point, 
and the children carried branches of maple leaves, as well as 
flags, which they waved while the singing was goino- on and 
the presentations were being made by Mayor Bowlby. The 
City of Stratford had a gaily decorated station, eight thousand 
cheering citizens and children singing "The Maple Leaf." An 
arch had been erected festooned with evergreens and flowers. 
The visit to London was a matter of more formality and 
length. The city was packed with people from outlyino- 
points, and the reception to the Royal couple as they drove 
through decorated streets to the Victoria Park was most enthu- 
siastic. There an address was proffered by Mayor Rumball. 
After the Duke's reply colours were presented to the 7th Re«-i- 
ment and the departure took place through the same kind o{ 
cheering throngs which had previously lined the streets. 



340 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

From London the route was taken up to Niagara. Every 
station was crowded with people, and in the vineyard and fruit 
region a brief stop was made at Grimsby. Finally, the Royal 
train ran into the historic village of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and 
there, at the Queen's Royal Hotel, the visitors found elaborate 
preparations for their comfort during the ensuing day of rest. 
Masses of flowers and fruit were displayed as further proof of 
the diverse productions of the Dominion. Sunday was, how- 
ever, a busy day in some respects. In the morning the 
steamer was taken to Oueenston, and from thence a special 
electric car conveyed the Royal couple along the banks of the 
mighty Niagara, past Brock's monument and the scene of the 
historic conflict upon Oueenston Heights, and on to the 
famous whirlpool where half an hour of sight-seeing was spent. 
In Queen Victoria's Park there were crowds of people wait- 
ing to see the Duke and Duchess, but only a few minutes' 
glance at the Falls was taken. A visit to Loretto Convent 
followed with songs from the pupils and luncheon afterwards. 
Archbishop O'Connor of Toronto assisted in the reception. 
The rest of the day was spent in viewing and admiring the 
ever-chanoinof odories of Niagara Falls, and the return took 
place in the evening. On the 14th of October Hamilton was 
visited and three hours spent in receiving one of the most 
enthusiastic welcomes of the whole tour. Thousands had 
gathered in the spacious grounds surrounding the station and 
in the streets, and the cheering was hearty and continuous. 
The usual address was presented by Mayor J. S. Hendrie at 
the City Hall. The Royal visitors then lunched at " Holm- 
stead," the residence of Mr. William Hendrie, and afterwards 
the Duke presented new colours to the 13th Regiment. The 
departure took place amidst the cheers of thousands. 

At St. Catharines there was a short stop and the whole 
city turned out, business was suspended and the colleges and 
schools attended in a body. There was a guard of honour at 




H. R. H. PRINCE GEORGE OF WALES DELIVERING HIS SPEECH 

AT GUILDHALL— 5th December, 1901. 

The Prince of Wales expressed himself in a manner which gave unbounded satisfaction to the 

nation in regard to his impressions during the Royal tour. 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 341 

the station, cheers from eight thousand throats, a beautiful 
bouquet presented to the Duchess and a few citizens intro- 
duced by Mayor Mclntyre. Brantford had its station hand- 
somely decorated, and three thousand children massed on the 
platform to sing patriotic songs as the train rolled in. Another 
bouquet for the Duchess was presented and also a casket con- 
taining a silver long-distance telephone from Professor Bell, 
the father of its inventor, who was born in Brantford. Their 
Royal Highnesses here signed the Bible which was given in 
1 712 by Queen Anne to the Mohawk Church of the Six 
Nations and which already contained the autographs of the 
King and the Duke of Connaught. A very brief stop was made 
at Paris, where the school children were gathered and a large 
crowd cheered the Royal couple. At Woodstock the whole 
population turned out and the train entered the station amid 
the cheers of ten thousand people. Mayor Mearns presented 
some of the citizens and his little daughter handed a beautiful 
bouquet of roses to the Duchess. A thousand school children 
waved flags and sang the National Anthem. 

FROM WESTERN TO EASTERN ONTARIO 

From the West to the East travelled the Royal train 
during the night, and on the morning of October 15th reached 
Belleville, where some eight thousand people had assembled 
to welcome the Duke and Duchess. Presentations by Mayor 
Graham, a guard of honour, cheers and a bouquet for the 
Duchess, with singing school children, were the familiar fea- 
tures of the reception. An address from 250 deaf and dumb 
children was, however, an interesting exception. At Kingston 
the Royal couple drove through the crowded and decorated 
streets to a pavilion in front of the City Hall, where three 
thousand children sang, cheered and waved flags, while flowers 
were given to the Duchess and several addresses presented to 
the Duke. Following this ceremony the Royal procession 



342 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

passed on through the historic city to Queen's University 
where his Royal Highness was given an honorary LL.D. and 
presented with an address by the Chancellor, Sir Sandford 
Fleming. In replying to the latter the Duke expressed the 
reeret of himself and the Duchess at the absence through ill- 
ness of the Very Rev. Principal Grant. He then laid the 
corner-stone of a new building donated to the University by 
the citizens of Kingston. There was .tremendous cheering 
from the students and gay decorations along the route which 
was then taken to the Royal Military College. 

At the College the Royal visitors witnessed a march past 
and gymnastic display from the Cadets. A spontaneous and 
unexpected incident occurred in the private visit of Their 
Royal Highnesses to Principal Grant at the General Hospi- 
tal. They talked with him a few minutes and then the Duke 
personally conferred upon him the C. M. G. which had been 
recently granted by the King. About one o'clock the Royal 
party reached the wharf where they embarked on the steamer 
Kingston, which had been most elaborately decorated and 
fitted up for the occasion, and started for a trip through the 
Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence. At six o'clock the 
steamer arrived at Brockville, and the Duke and Duchess 
were greeted with a brilliant display of fireworks from the 
shore. At the landing-place they were met by Mayor Buell, 
Senator Fulford and other prominent citizens. A bouquet was 
aiven the Duchess and the procession from the wharf to the 
station passed through cheering people and the departure was 
made in a blaze of fireworks. At Cornwall, which was reached 
on the morning of October 16th, there were some four thou- 
sand people at the station, and Mayor Campbell presented the 
Duke and Duchess with a complete set of lacrosse sticks for 
the Royal children. They were enclosed in a gold-mounted 
case. The next stoppage was at Cardinal, where thousands 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 343 

had assembled from the same surrounding country and the 
school children sang national songs. 

On the way from Ontario to the Provinces by the Atlan- 
tic a pause was made at Montreal on October 16th to visit the 
Victoria Jubilee Bridge — a reconstruction of the one into 
which His Majesty the King had driven the last rivet when 
visiting Canada in i860. The Duke of Cornwall and York 
was now presented with a gold rivet by Mr. George B. Reeve, 
General Manager of the Grand Trunk Railway system, as a 
souvenir of that event and of his present visit. The Bridge, 
which was called one of the wonders of the world at the time of 
its construction, now had a double track and double roadway. 
During the afternoon half-an-hour was spent at Sherbrooke, 
where the station was gaily decorated. Mayor Worthington 
presented the address and during his reply the Royal speaker 
declared that " among the many pleasant experiences of our 
delightful visit to Canada one will remain most deeply graven 
in our memories — the solemn declaration of personal attach- 
ment to my dear father, the King, and of loyalty to the throne 
of our glorious Empire." A beautiful bear-skin was then pre- 
sented to the Duchess by Mrs. Worthington on behalf of the 
ladies of Sherbrooke. Some South African veterans were 
decorated with the medal and a delegation from the Caughna- 
waea Indians received. 

From Sherbrooke the Royal party then travelled straight 
through to St. John, New Brunswick, which they reached in 
the afternoon of October 17th. After they had arrived and 
the echoes of the roaring guns had died away the Royal pro- 
cession was formed and passed through the usually crowded 
and decorated streets to the Exhibition Buildings where 
Mayor Daniel, in his official robes, welcomed the Duke and 
Duchess and presented an address from the City as did Mayor 
Crocket from Fredricton. Some nine other local addresses 
were also presented and replied to. His Royal Highness then 



344 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

presented colours to British Veterans from Massachusetts. 
There was to have been a review of troops in the afternoon 
but, owing to some mistake in the arrangements, a Royal pre- 
sentation of South African medals, of colours to the 62nd Bat- 
talion, and of a sword of honour to Captain F. Caverhill 
Jones, comprised the proceedings. The return from the Exhi- 
bition grounds to Caverhill Hall, which had been specially 
fitted up by the Provincial Government for the visitors, was 
through crowds of more or less enthusiastic people. In the 
evening there were fireworks and electrical displays and a 
Reception at the Exhibition Building attended by a large 
representation of New Brunswick society. Late in the after- 
noon a deputation of ladies waited upon Her Royal Highness 
and presented her with a beautiful mink and ermine muff on 
behalf of the women of St. John. At noon on the following 
day the Duke and Duchess left the city amid much cheering 
and the farewells of a representative gathering at the station. 
On the way to Halifax the City of Moncton, N. B., celebrated 
the arrival of the Royal tourists with a half holiday, a decora- 
ted station and a mass of cheering people. Mayor Atkinson 
presented a number of prominent people and the Duchess 
received a couple of handsome bouquets. At Dorchester, as 
the train arrived it passed through a gaily decorated station, 
cheering crowds and local officials ranged along the platform. 
At Amherst, N. S., a short stop was made. 

FROM NEW BRUNSWICK INTO NOVA SCOTIA 

When Halifax was reached, on the morning of October 
19th, the reception was beautiful and impressive as well as 
loyal. Thousands of soldiers with glittering bayonets lined 
the streets, together with hundreds of sailors armed with cut- 
lasses and rifles, and many thousands of crowding and cheering 
citizens. As the Royal visitors arrived at the station they 
were welcomed with a roar of guns from the magnificent citadel 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 345 

heights and defences of Halifax and from the vessels of the 
most formidable fleet of war-ships which, it was said, had ever 
graced a Canadian port. They were received by the Vice- 
regal party, Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford and his staff, 
Colonel Biscoe and his staff, Lieutenant-Governor the Hon. 
A. G. Jones, of Nova Scotia, Lieutenant-Governor P. E. 
Mclntyre of Prince Edward Island, the Hon. G. H. Murray 
and the members of his Government, Mayor Hamilton of 
Halifax, the Mayor of Charlottetown and various other offi- 
cials and representative men. At the platform in front of the 
station various addresses were presented amid cheers from an 
immense gathering. The Duke, in replying, did so separately 
to the Prince Edward Island welcome and to that from Nova 
Scotia. To the former he expressed the "true regret " which 
they felt at not being able to visit that well-remembered Prov- 
ince, and to the latter he made a really eloquent response. "It 
is perhaps fitting that we should take leave of Canada in the 
Province that was the first over which the British flag waved, 
a Province so full of moving, checquered, historic memories, 
and that, embarking from your capital which stands unrivalled 
amongst the naval ports of the world, we should pass through 
waters that are celebrated in the annals of our glorious Navy." 
He also spoke of the "affectionate sympathy" with which 
they had been received throughout the Dominion. 

Following this function the Royal couple passed through 
streets lined with troops and sailors and cheering crowds and 
at times presenting the appearance of a net-work of colour, a 
canopy of bunting. In the grounds of the Provincial Building 
His Royal Highness laid the foundation-stone of a monument 
erected by the Government and people of Nova Scotia in 
honour of the Provincial heroes who had fallen in South 
Africa. The procession then passed on to a handsome arch, 
guarded by a detachment of Royal Engineer, where the Duke 
inspected the members of the British Veterans' Society who 



346 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

were drawn up on parade. Conspicuous amongst them was a 
negro holder of the V. C. Thence the parade continued to 
the Dockyard where the Royal couple went on board the 
Ophir, which had come up from Quebec during the long 
inland tour. In the afternoon a oreat review and massing of 
many thousands of soldiers and sailors, infantry, cavalry 
and artillery, was held on the Halifax Common in the presence 
of a crowd of spectators — probably twenty-five thousand in 
number. The troops were under the supreme command of 
Colonel Biscoe, and the Royal Naval Brigade included four 
thousand sailors from twelve of Britain's most modern cruisers. 
It was a sight such as had never been witnessed in Canada 
before and the review eclipsed in effect the previous military 
spectacle at Toronto ; while the environment of great fortifica- 
tions and a harbour full of war-ships enhanced the character of 
the scene. Near the Royal pavilion was a stand containing six 
thousand school children who sang patriotic songs. 

After the review the Duke presented colours to the 66th 
Princess Louise Fusiliers and was informed by the Lieutenant- 
Governor that H.R.H. the Duke of Kent had conferred a 
similar honour upon the Regiment in the early part of the 
preceeding century. His Royal Highness then handed the 
war medals to the South African veterans and presented a 
sword of honour to Major H. B. Stairs. In the evening a 
state dinner was given by the Lieut.-Governor at Government 
House when occasion was taken by the Duke to present the 
Hon. Dr. Borden with the medal won by the gallant son who 
had lost his life in South Africa. A Reception was held after- 
wards in the Provincial Buildings amid scenes of striking 
beauty and brightness. The city and fleet were brilliantly 
illuminated and the spectacle one of the most beautiful of the 
whole Canadian tour. The next day was Sunday and was 
spent very quietly on board the Ophir. At night the Duke 
dined with Vice-Admiral Bedford on board his flag-ship. On 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 347 

the following morning the Royal visitors left the shores of 
Canada in their yacht, accompanied by the fleet of battleships 
and with the cheers of many thousands of people, the roar of 
guns and the sound of bands playing on sea and shores, echoing 
out over the waters of the harbour. 

THE ROYAL FAREWELL TO CANADA. 

Before leaving Halifax, and under date of October 19th, 
the Duke of Cornwall and York sent a communication to the 
Earlof Minto expressive of the regret felt by the Duchess and 
himself at bidding farewell to " a people who by their warm- 
heartedness and cordiality have made us feel at home amongst 
them from* the first moment of our arrival on their shores." 
He referred to the loyal demeanour of the crowds, the general 
manifestations of rejoicing and the trouble and ingenuity dis- 
played in the illuminations and street decorations. They were 
specially touched by the great efforts made in small and remote 
places to manifest feelings of kindness toward them. " I 
recognize all this as a proof of the strong personal loyalty to 
the throne as well as the deep-seated devotion of the people 
of Canada to that unity of the Empire of which the Crown is 
the symbol." Thanks were tendered to the Dominion Gov- 
ernment, the Provincial authorities and municipal bodies and to 
various individuals for the care and trouble bestowed upon the 
varied arrangements. Of the Militia His Royal Highness 
spoke in high terms. The reviews at Quebec, Toronto and 
Halifax had enabled him to judge of the military capacity of 
the Dominion and of the " splendid material " at its disposal. 
Their hearts, he added, were full at leaving Canada and their 
regrets extreme at having to decline so many kind invitations 
from different centres. " But we have seen enough to carry 
away imperishable memories of affectionate and loyal hearts, 
frank and independent natures, prosperous and progressive 
communities, boundless productive territories, glorious scenery, 



348 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

stupendous works of nature, a people and a country proud of 
its membership in the Empire and in which the Empire finds 
one of its brightest offspring." 

On the way home Newfoundland was visited and an 
enthusiastic reception given by the people of St. John's and 
the Government of the Island. The usual addresses, decora- 
tions and functions followed and- then the Ophir steamed away 
over the last stretch of ocean in this long, strenuous and 
memorable Royal progress of over fifty thousand miles on sea 
and land. When in siofht of English shores agfain the Kine 
and Queen and the Royal children, accompanied by the Chan- 
nel squadron of thirteen warships, met the travellers and 
escorted them to Portsmouth. After eight months of separa- 
tion the Royal family of three generations were again together. 
The popular welcome at Portsmouth was brilliant and enthus- 
iastic as well it might be. As the Times put it on November 
ist — the day of the arrival home — "The Duke and Duchess 
have made the greatest tour in history ; they have accom- 
plished an act of high statesmanship without statecraft but 
by simple arts which are better than any statecraft ; they 
have been under many skies and seen many strange, lovely 
and impressive sights ; they have been greeted and acclaimed 
by many peoples, races and languages." In his speech to the 
Civic deputation waiting upon him on the following day His 
Royal Highness stated that their journey had covered thirty- 
three thousand miles by sea and twelve thousand five hundred 
by land. " Everywhere we have been profoundly impressed 
by the kindness, affection and enthusiasm extended to us and 
the universal declarations of loyalty to the Throne ; and by the 
conscious pride in membership of our great Empire which has 
constantly displayed itself." 

A dinner was given by the King and Qeen on board the 
yacht Victoria and Albert in honour of the Royal travellers' 
return and, in the course of a speech of welcome, His Majesty 



THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 349 

referred to the cordiality and loyal enthusiasm of their recep- 
tion everywhere. " The accounts of their receptions, regularly 
transmitted to me by telegrams and letters and amply con- 
firmed in my conversations to-day, have touched me deeply and I 
trust that the practical result will be to draw closer the strong 
ties of mutual affection which bind together the old Mother- 
land with her numerous and thriving offspring". The special 
train was then taken to London and from Victoria station to 
Marlborough House the Royal couple drove through numer- 
ous crowds of cheering people and gaily decorated streets, with 
little Prince Edward beside them- — for the first time making- a 
public appearance and accepting the acclamations of the public 
with becoming gravity. It was a triumphal ending to a tri- 
umphant progress. A sort of climax to this termination was 
afforded, however, in the great banquet given by the Lord 
Mayor of London at the Guild Hall on December 5th, to him 
who had been created Prince of Wales on the 9th of Novem- 
ber preceding by his father the King. There were only four 
toasts — the King, proposed by Sir Joseph Dimsdale, the Lord 
Mayor and chairman ; Queen Alexandra and the Royal family, 
responded to by the new Prince of Wales ; the Colonies, pro- 
posed by the Earl of Rosebery and responded to by Mr. 
Chamberlain ; the Lord Mayor and Corporation proposed by 
the Marquess of Salisbury. 

Besides the speakers and the members of the Royal suite 
during this famous tour there were present the Duke and 
Duchess of Devonshire, Mrs. Chamberlain, Lord James of 
Hereford, Mr. John Morley, Lord Knutsford, Lord and Lady 
Tweedmouth, Lord and Lady Lamington, Lord Brassey, Lord 
Avebury, Sir Frederick Young and many other interesting or 
important personages. The speech delivered by the Prince of 
Wales was one which startled England from its directness of 
statement and its eloquence of style and delivery. It was not 
merely a clear, or good description of the tour ; it was the 



350 THE EMPIRE TOUR OF THE NEW HEIR 

utterance of one who was both statesman and orator. His 
Royal Highness referred to the historic title which he now 
bore, to the voyage, unique in character and rich in experience, 
to the loyalty, affection and enthusiasm of the greetings every- 
where, to the special characteristics of the visit in each coun- 
try. He analysed Colonial loyalty as being accompanied by 
" unmistakable evidences of the consciousness of strength ; 
of a true and living membership in the Empire; and of power 
and readiness to share the burden and responsibility of that 
membership". He spoke of the influence of Queen Victoria's 
life and memory, of the qualities of the sixty thousand troops 
whom .he had reviewed, of the openings for better commercial 
interchange. " I venture to allude to the impressions which 
seemed generally to prevail among our brethren across the 
seas that the Old Country must wake up if she intends to 
maintain her old position of pre-eminence in her Colonial 
trade against foreign competitors ". The need of more popu- 
lation in the Colonies was referred to and an urgent appeal 
made to encourage the sending out of suitable emigrants. 
" By this means we may still further strengthen, or at all 
events, pass on unimpaired, that pride of race, that unity of 
sentiment and purpose, that feeling of common loyalty and 
obligation which knit together and alone can maintain the 
integrity of our Empire". 



CHAPTER XX. 

The King and the South African War. 

NO event in many years has created such keen interest 
amongst, and been so closely followed by, the Royal 
family of Great Britain as the war in South Africa. 
Apart from Queen Victoria's natural and life-long dislike of 
the horrors of war, there was the earnest sympathy which she 
felt in the last two years of her reign with thousands of her 
subjects who had suffered in the loss of husband, or brother, 
or father, or friend ; and the womanly sorrow which she herself 
felt for the many promising young officers whom she had per- 
sonally known or liked, or whose relations and friends had 
been upon terms of intimacy with members of the Royal cir- 
cle. The matter was still more brought home to her, in a 
personal sense, by the death of her grandson, Prince Christian 
Victor, who, after months of hard campaigning and with the 
reputation of an able, modest and hard-working officer, suc- 
cumbed in the autumn of 1900 to enteric fever, and was 
buried, at his own request, upon the South African veldt. But 
these personal considerations had never been so potent with 
the Queen as had her broader sympathies for her people, and 
there can be no doubt the gloomy days of Colenso and Spion 
Kop told severely upon the sensibilities of a Sovereign who 
was as proud of the nation's position and as keen to feel 
national humiliation, or sorrow, as was- the humblest and most 
loyal of her subjects. And the fact that her duty to the peo- 
ple and the Empire lay in supporting her Ministers and press- 
ing, if necessary, for a still more vigorous prosecution of the 

351 



352 THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 

struggle, could not but have its effect upon the constitution of 
a Queen who felt her responsibilities very keenly and who was 
an aged woman as well as a great ruler. 

Where she could help in keeping behind her Ministers a 
united people Queen Victoria did her utmost. Early in March, 
1900, the Royal recognition of Irish valour in South Africa, 
shown in the order to the soldiers of the Empire to wear the 
Shamrock on St. Patrick's day, was as tactful and wise a step as 
statesmanship ever initiated. The ensuing postponement of 
Her Majesty's spring visit to sunny Italy and her prolonged 
stay in Dublin during the month of April were pronounced 
appeals to Irish loyalty. Her Christmas present of chocolate 
to the troops in the field, her ever-thoughtful telegrams, and 
occasional letters and speeches upon public occasions, were 
also of great value to the cause of national unity and action in 
differing degrees. Meantime, the Duke of Connaught had 
volunteered early in the period of trouble which eventually 
developed into war, but the Queen did not wish him to go 
to the front and, though he had offered to waive his rank and 
seniority in order to do so, his mother's wishes, of course, 
prevailed. 

DUTIES OF THE HEIR APPARENT 

The Prince of Wales was exceedingly active during this 
period in paying every possible compliment to departing 
troops, in welcoming home the veterans of the war, in confer- 
ring medals and in helping the many charities, hospital inter- 
ests and military organizations which the situation evoked. As 
soon as the war broke out the Princess of Wales had com- 
menced to organize a hospital ship for the care of the wounded 
at Cape Town and, on November 22d, 1899, Her Royal High- 
ness visited the vessel prior to its departure. She was accom- 
panied by the Prince with Princess Victoria, the Duchess of 
York and the Duke and Duchess of Fife. Badges and gifts 
were presented to the nursing sisters and the men of the Royal 



THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 353 

Army Medical Corps and St. John Ambulance Brigade and a 
brief speech delivered by the Prince. To this object, it may 
be added, the Princess had given £1000, and a Committee 
formed by her and composed of Lady Lansdowne, Lady 
Wolseley, Lady Wantage, Sir Donald Currie and others, had 
raised the large additional sum required. At Windsor, on 
December 15th, the Prince of Wales, accompanied by his wife, 
the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Christian, presented to the 
Grenadier Guards the medals they had won in the Soudan. 
On January 26th, 1900, he reviewed six hundred officers and 
men of the Imperial Yeomanry under command of Colonel, 
Lord Chesham. He thanked them for makine him their 
Hon. Colonel, and then added : "You have all, like true men, 
volunteered for active service to do your duty to your Sover- 
eign and your country. I feel sure that when you leave your 
homes and country you will feel that a great duty devolves on 
you — to maintain the honour of the British flag — and that you 
will ably assist the Regular forces of Her Majesty abroad and 
do credit to your country and your corps." 

A little later, on February 9th, another contingent of 
Yeomanry, under Colonel Mitford, were inspected by the 
Prince ere they departed for South Africa. "Most heartily" 
he said to them, "do I hope that the services you intend to 
render your Sovereign and your country will bring credit upon 
yourselves. I feel sure that, under your commanders, you will 
know that one of the first principles is good discipline. Then, 
I hope you are good shots and good riders." In the afternoon, 
at Devonshire House, His Royal Highness received the one 
hundred and fifty nurses and men connected with the Imperial 
Yeomanry Hospital. When the Princess of Wales' Hospital 
Ship returned with its sorrowful burdens of wounded men the 
Prince and Princess were the first to visit it and do what was 
possible by kind thought and word and action to soothe the 
suffering of the soldiers. Netley Hospital they visited ao-ain 
23 



354 THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 

and again, and more than one Canadian or Australian, or 
other Colonial soldier of the Queen, will always speak of the 
gracious personal kindness of the Royal couple. 

When the Naval Brigade returned in triumph from its 
achievements at Ladysmith there was added to the seething, 
cheering, enthusiastic popular welcome the formal reception 
and inspection by the Heir Apparent, accompanied by the' 
Princess and other members of the Royal family and the Lords 
of the Admiralty. After brief speeches from Mr. Goschen 
and His Royal Highness the former, as First Lord of the 
Admiralty, entertained the officers of the Brigade and the 
Prince of Wales at luncheon. On November 2nd, following, 
the Prince presided at a great banquet given in London to the 
officers and men of the Honourable Artillery Company and 
the City Imperial Volunteers. Colonel Mackinnon of the 
latter force sat on the right of the Royal chairman and the 
Lord Mayor on the left. In his speeches the Prince gave a 
brief history of the origin and the war achievements of the 
Artillery and the City Imperial Volunteers, congratulated many 
of the officers by name, spoke of the opportunity they had 
been given of taking part in " a great and important war and 
of maintaining the honour of the British flag," and referred in 
pathetic terms to the death of Prince Christian Victor — who 
had been through five campaigns and was under thirty-four 
years of age. 

When the Composite Regiment of the Household Cavalry 
went to war in November 1899 they had been inspected by the 
Heir Apparent. Upon their return, December 3rd 1 900, he paid 
them the same compliment, accompanied by various members 
of the Royal family and leading officers of the Army. He 
expressed pride at being Colonel-in-Chief of a corps which 
had so greatly distinguished itself — in the distant past as well 
as the near present. Following them came the Royal Cana- 
dian Regiment, commanded by Colonel W. D. Otter. To 



THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 355 



m 



them the Prince made a neat and patriotic speech. "la 
well aware of what you have gone through and the splendid 
way in which you have served in South Africa and I deeply 
regret and mourn with you the loss of so many brave men." 
Ever anxious, like the Queen and her own husband, to promote 
the well-being of the soldiers and sailors the Princess of Wales 
had acted since the beginning of the war as President of the 
Soldiers and Sailors' Families Association and, on December 
31st, 1900, reported through the press that ,£500,000 had been 
directly subscribed to their purposes, ^190,000 given through 
the Mansion House subscription, and ,£50,000 through a 
special Lord Mayor's Fund. The whole of this sum had now 
been expended in caring for the wives and families of those at 
the front and distributed through the voluntary services of 
eleven hundred ladies and gentlemen throughout the United 
Kingdom. At least £"50,000 was still being expended monthly 
and Her Royal Highness made and personally signed an 
earnest appeal for the further funds required. 

When Lord Roberts left to take command in South 
Africa, the Prince of Wales personally saw him off at the 
station — accompanied by the Duke of Connaught, who had 
been again praying the Military authorities to allow him to go 
to the front in the new crisis which had arisen and who had 
even obtained Lord Roberts' approval to his taking a place 
upon his Staff. But the War Office would only say that with 
so many general officers out of the country His Royal High- 
ness could do better service by remaining with the Army at 
home. 

There were many reasons for the Prince of Wales 
taking a keen interest in the war apart altogether from the 
natural and patriotic reason. A peculiarly large number of the 
sons of personal friends were at the front and many of them 
were fated to fall from time to time. The reputation of the 
officers engaged in the struggle was necessarily very dear to 



356 THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 

him. He knew them all and had many associations with their 
regiments and themselves. A blow to Sir George White, a 
disaster to Sir Redvers Buller, a danger to Col. Baden Powell, 
a threatened illness in the case of Lord Roberts, were all matters 
of personal concern to him as well as of national or patriotic inter- 
est. The central figure in the beginning of the war — the great 
personality of Mr. Cecil Rhodes — had long been a friend and 
had been received by the Prince upon a kindly social footing. 
Through the Duke of Fife's connection with the South African 
Chartered Company, the Prince must have been closely inter- 
ested in all the earlier developments of the struggle and it 
could only have been by special permission that his son-in-law 
held a Director's place up to the actual outbreak of the war. 
Mr. Chamberlain and Lord Milner.were both men who had 
been closely associated with his own Imperialistic projects and 
ideals and there can be little doubt — though it was never pub- 
licly expressed — that the Prince of Wales sympathised with 
the policy which has since made South African expansion and 
empire possible. 

The Prince of Wales had seen Lord Roberts off upon his 
career of successful action ; on January 3rd, 1901, accompan- 
ied by the Princess, the Duke and Duchess of York and the 
Duke of Connaught, he welcomed him home and on behalf of 
the Queen received him as a Royal guest at Buckingham 
Palace. A magnificent banquet followed, given by the 
Prince, in honour of the Field Marshal — who had just been 
created an Earl and a Knight of the Garter — and six months 
later as King of Great Britain, he was able to send a special 
message to Parliament recommending a grant to Earl Roberts 
of ,£100,000. Shortly after this reception came the much- 
mourned death of the Queen and the accession of His Royal 
Highness to the Throne. It was not long before the King 
was showing his appreciation of South African soldiers by 
inspecting or addressing them before their departure, or upon 




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THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 357 

their return. On February 15th, accompanied by Queen 
Alexandra, the Duke and Duchess' of Connaught, the Duke 
of Cambridge, Princess Louise, the Duchess of Argyll, the 
Duke of Argyll, Lord Roberts, Sir Redvers Buller, Lord 
Strathcona and Mr. Chamberlain, he inspected Lord Strath- 
cona's Regiment of Horse and presented a King's colour to 
Colonel Steele. His Majesty's speech to the officers and men 
was tactful and gracious : " I welcome you here on our shores 
on your return from active service in South Africa. I know 
it would have been the urgent wish of my beloved mother, our 
revered Queen, to have welcomed you also. That was not to 
be ; but be assured she deeply appreciated the services you 
rendered as I do. It has given me great satisfaction to inspect 
you to-day, to have presented you with your war-medals and 
also with the King's colour. I feel sure that in entrusting 
this colour to you, Colonel Steele, and to those under you, you 
will always defend it and will do your duty as you have done 
in the past year in South Africa and will do it on all future 
occasions. I am glad that Lord Strathcona is here to-day, as 
it is owing to him that this magnificent force has been equip- 
ped and sent out." The King then presented Colonel Steele, 
personally with the M. V. O. decoration. 

PERSONAL INTEREST IN THE WAR 

Following this and other similar events came the re-organ- 
ization of the Army, in which the King no doubt took a great 
deal of interest though it would only be shown the form of 
advice or expressions of opinion. By Mr. St. John Brodrick's 
scheme, as outlined on March 9th, and ultimately accepted 
in the main, it was decided to have the military forces so org- 
anized that three Army corps could be sent abroad at any 
time ; that the artillery and mounted troops should be increased 
and the medical and transport service reformed ; that officers 
should be better trained, with less barrack-square drill and 



358 THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 

more musketry, scouting and individuality. It was proposed 
also to "decentralize administration, centralize responsibility ; '' 
to increase the Militia from 100,000 to 1 15,000, to increase the 
pay of the soldiers, to utilize the Yeomanry and to affiliate, if 
possible, the Colonial forces. The new arrangements would 
provide, it was hoped, a home force of 155,000 Regulars, 90,000 
Reserves, 150,000 Militia, 35,000 Yeomanry and 250,000 Vol- 
unteers — a total of 680,000 men. 

Meanwhile, peace negotiations had been progressing. On 
February 28th a long interview took place between Lord 
Kitchener and General Louis Botha who, according to the 
British general's despatch, "showed very good feeling and 
seemed anxious to bring about peace." The question of gov- 
ernment, grading from a Crown Colony system up to full self- 
government, was discussed ; the licensing of rifles for protec- 
tion and hunting ; the use of English and Dutch languages; 
the enfranchising of Kaffirs ; the protection of Church and 
trust funds and the guarantee of legal debts and notes of the 
late Republics ; the question of a war-tax on the farms and the 
time of return of prisoners of war ; pecuniary assistance to 
the burghers, so as to enable them to start afresh ; the ques- 
tion of amnesty and the proposal to disfranchise Cape rebels ; 
were all freely discussed. After considerable interchange 
between Lord Kitchener and Mr. Brodrick and Lord Milner 
and Mr. Chamberlain, a definite statement of terms was offered 
General Botha and by letter, dated March 1 6th, declined. The 
details of this cabled correspondence and the proposed terms 
were, of course, submitted to the King and approved by His 
Majesty, and it is certain that had the war then ended the 
Coronation would have taken place at an earlier date than was 
afterwards fixed. 

The question of honours conferred by the Crown in peace 
or war has always been one of considerable discussion in 
Colonial, if not in home circles. How far the Sovereign acts 



THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 359 

in this connection with, or without the advice of responsible 
Ministers, cannot be exactly known. The action is unquestion- 
ably guided by circumstances based primarily upon the admitted 
fact that all honours and titles, constitutionally as well as 
theoretically, lie in the hands of the Sovereign. It is probable 
that the recommendations made are generally accepted ; that 
the name of any one known to be disapproved of by the Kino- 
would never be submitted ; that the slightest hint of dis- 
approval would suffice for any name to be at once dropped ; 
that any suggestion made by the Sovereign is at once included 
in the official list as a matter of course ; that the interest taken 
by the Sovereign in the honours bestowed depends somewhat 
upon whether they are conferred in the ordinary way for 
routine services or granted for special reasons of action or 
state ; that Colonial honours are seldom changed as they come 
from the hands of the Governor-General or Viceroy. 

On the other hand it may be reasonably assumed that 
King Edward took more interest in this subject than did the 
late Queen. His many years of active association with public 
life and men of all classes and political opinion had made him 
keenly and impartially aware of personal claims and merits and 
more than usually able to judge amongst the great numbers 
who desire or deserve Royal recognition from time to time. 
His Majesty's first Honour List dealt with services in the 
South African War under terms of a multitudinous catalogue 
submitted by F. M. Lord Roberts up to November 29th, 1900. 
Amongst those who were made Knights Commander of the 
Bath, or K. C. B. were Lieut.-General Charles Tucker, Lieu- 
tenant-General Lord Methuen, Major-General Reginald Pole- 
Carew, Major-Generals W. G. Knox and H. J. T. Hildyard, 
Lieut.-General Ian S. M. Hamilton, Major-General Hector A. 
Macdonald, Lieut.-General J. D. P. French, Brigadier-Generals 
Henry S. Settle, Edward Y. Brabant and J. G. Dartnell — all 
well-known officers in the South African conflict. The Grand 



360 THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 

Cross of St. Michael and St. George, or G. C. M. G. was con- 
ferred upon General Sir Redvers Buller, Lieut.-General Lord 
Kitchener, Lieut.-General Sir Frederick Forestier-Walker and 
General Sir George White. The K. C. M. G., or Knight 
Commandership in the same Order, was given to Major-General 
Sir C. F. Clery, Major-General Sir Leslie Rundle, Major- 
General E. T. H. Hutton, Lieut. -Colonel E. P. C. Girouard 
and others. A number of minor honours were bestowed upon 
British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and South African 
officers and men and an Investiture of various Orders was 
held at St. James's Palace on June 3rd, 1901. In such a list 
much discrimination was necessary and it is probable that the 
tact and knowledge of the King would have a very controlling 
influence apart altogether from his constitutional rights and 
powers. 

VARIOUS CEREMONIES AND INCIDENTS 

On May 24th, His Majesty helped to make the welcome 
home to Sir Alfred Milner splendid and impressive and worthy 
of the statesman who had toiled amidst personal danger and 
depressive surroundings, public disasters and continuous mis- 
representation, to maintain British rights and justice in South 
Africa. The High Commissioner was received at the station 
by Lord Salisbury, Mr. Chamberlain, Lord Roberts, Lord 
Lansdowne, Mr. Balfour and many others. Thence he was 
driven to Buckingham Palace and received by the King in a 
prolonged and private audience. The honour of a peerage 
was conferred upon him and on the following day Lord Milner 
was entertained at a large luncheon given by the Colonial 
Secretary and Mrs. Chamberlain and attended by the most 
eminent public men of the Metropolis — outside of the Liberal 
party ranks. On the same day the King presented colours to 
the Third Scots Guards. 

On June 13th a most imposing ceremony was held by His 
Majesty on the Horse Guards Parade when thirty-two hundred 



THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 361 

officers and men from South Africa were presented with war 
medals by the King amid scenes which had not been dupli- 
cated since the memorable function when the late Queen 
Victoria and the Crimean soldiers had been the central figures. 
The Royal platform was covered with crimson cloth and in its 
centre was spread a beautiful Persian silk carpet above which 
a canopy of crimson and gold, supported on silver poles, had 
been erected. Around the platform was a bewildering display 
of splendid uniforms and, after the arrival of the King and 
Queen Alexandra, accompanied by Princess Victoria, the dis- 
tribution of the medals lasted over two hours — Major-General 
Sir Henry Trotter handing them to His Majesty who, in 
turn, presented them to the officer or soldier as he filed past 
The first recipients were Lord Roberts, Lord Milner and Sir 
Ian Hamilton. A most brilliant and successful function con- 
cluded with cheers and the National Anthem. 

The war now dragged on its weary way. Victories and 
occasional defeats marked the stages of attrition by which the 
bravery and obstinacy of a determined foe was gradually worn 
down. On August 16th, 1901, Lord Kitchener issued his 
proclamation banishing all Boer leaders taken in arms after 
September 15th: three days later the Duke of Cornwall 
landed at Cape Town ; on August 27th Lord Milner returned 
to take up his arduous duties. Mr. Cecil Rhodes died on 
March 26th, 1902, and on April 9th Boer delegates met at 
Klerksdorp under safe conducts from Lord Kitchener, and 
there Mr. Steyn, General Delary and General De Wet, and 
others, conferred upon the possibilities of peace. Three days 
later they proceeded to Pretoria and were given every facility 
for discussion and consultation by the British authorities. On 
April 1 8th they temporarily dispersed to consult their Com- 
mandos after being given the terms and concessions which it 
was decided to grant. There were supposed to be, at the 
most liberal computation — London Times of April 25th — some 



362 THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 

io.ooo Boers in the field at this time, while the women, chil- 
dren and Boer residents of the refugee camps, who were 
being fed and cared for by the authorities, numbered 1 10,000. 

The keenest interest had been taken by the King in the 
course of the war during this period and in the negotiations 
which ensued. He had been hoping for its termination before 
his Coronation and, some months prior to this, on January 
1 5th, had addressed a re-inforcement of the Grenadier Guards in 
rather sanguine terms: "I trust that the duties you will be 
called upon to perform will be less arduous than those of some 
of the men who have gone before you and that the war will 
shortly be brought to a close. But, whatever duties you may 
be called upon to perform, I am sure you will fulfil them effi- 
ciently and will keep up the old spirit and traditions for which 
the Guards are famous." His wishes, like so many entertained 
throughout the Empire, were not speedily realized, but it is 
safe to say that His Majesty would no more have unduly hur- 
ried the course of negotiations or changed their effective and 
final character in order to attain his natural desire for a peace- 
ful celebration of the Coronation — as was asserted in some 
sensational quarters — than he would have cut his own hand off. 

It is sometimes forgotten that the King not only embodies 
the authority of his vast realm in his position, but must con- 
centrate in his own person a natural strength of pride in his 
Empire so great as to be far beyond the possibility of a reflec- 
tion upon its patriotism. He would hardly be human in his 
qualities if the most intense patriotic pride in the unity and 
power of his realms was not the first and strongest instinct of 
his nature. But this in passing. Lord Salisbury illustrated 
the attitude of both the Sovereign and his Ministers when 
speaking at the Albert Hall, London, on May 7th, during the 
pending negotiations : " I only wish to guard against misap- 
prehension which I think I have seen, to the effect that the 
willingness we have shown to listen to all that may be said to 



THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 363 

us is a proof that we have retreated or receded from our 
former position and are willing to recognize that the rights we 
claimed are no longer valid. There is no ground for such an 
assertion. We cannot afford after such terrible sacrifice, not 
only of treasure but of men, after the exertions, unexampled in 
our history, that we have made — we cannot afford to submit 
to the idea that we are to allow things to slide back into a 
position where it will be in the power of our enemy again, 
when the opportunity suits him and the chance is favourable 
to him, to renew again the issue that we have fought this last 
three years." 

TERMINATION OF THE WAR 

Meanwhile the negotiations were proceeding. At first the 
Boer delegates proposed that the two Republics should merely 
concede what had been demanded before the outhreak of the 
war. When this was refused, even as a matter for considera- 
tion, and they were referred to previous statements as to 
terms, the request was made that some of the leaders be 
allowed to consult their friends in Europe, or at least to have 
one of the European refugee leaders come over and assist 
them in their decision. To this Lord Kitchener rave an 
instant veto, and intimated that unless their proposals were to 
be serious the negotiations had better drop. Then they asked 
for an armistice in order to consult the burghers in the field, 
but Lord Kitchener would not stop military operations a 
moment further than to allow the delegates to hold meetings 
of their Commandos. • But in that event they were to return to 
Pretoria armed with full powers to conclude peace — if they 
returned at all. As a result of this decision the leading officers 
of the Boer forces met their respective Commandos, and 
delegates were duly appointed to a total number of one hun- 
dred and fifty. These met on May 16th at Vereenigino- 
and spent a couple of weeks in discussion, in obtaining abso- 
lutely final terms for acceptance or rejection from the 



364 THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 

British authorities, and in presenting these again to the Com- 
mandos. The opponents of peace during these preliminaries 
were generally believed to include Mr. Steyn and Command- 
ants Wessels, Muller, Celliers and Herzog, while Generals 
Delarey and De Wet were in favour of accepting the British 
terms. Finally, on May 31st, the conditions of surrender 
were signed. Mr. Steyn was the only important absentee 
from the final conferences at Pretoria. 

Thus ended a war in which Great Britain had spent 
^200,000,000, raised and equipped some three hundred thou- 
sand men, of whom one-sixth were Colonial troops, and per- 
formed the unparalleled feat of supplying quick and satisfac- 
tory transport and subsistence for this great body of troops to 
a distance of seven thousand miles from the seat of Govern- 
ment. The people had never wavered, the Government had, 
apparently, never hesitated, the credit of the country had not 
been affected, even the prosperity of Great Britain had not been 
touched. Speaking of the conduct of the people in this connec- 
tion the Times of July 2d paid the following personal tribute : 
" A splendid example of patriotism and devotion was set them 
by our late Sovereign Lady, and they nobly followed it. It is 
worth recalling now that,- while she deplored the necessity of 
war, she never wavered to the end in her conviction that it 
must be fought through. It is to her, perhaps, above all 
others, that we owe the calm dignity of temper with which the 
peoples of her Empire have passed through the greatest ordeal 
they have been called upon to undergo since the days of 
Napoleon. Her son, King Edward, has inherited her spirit 
and kept before his subjects the ideals she held up to them." 

The terms of peace included the promise by Great Britain 
of self-government in gradual stages and "as soon as circum- 
stances will permit " ; the exemption of burghers from civil or 
criminal proceedings in connection with the war (with certain 
specified exceptions) ; the recognition of English as the official 



THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 365 

language, and the promise that Dutch should be taught in 
the schools when desired ; the granting of arms, under license, 
to the burghers and the postponement of native franchise 
questions until the period of free government had arrived ; the 
grant of ,£3,000,000 to be expended by Commissioners in the 
work of repatriation and the supply of shelter, seed, stock, etc., 
to the returning burghers ; and the reference of rebels to their 
own Colonial Courts for trial, with the proviso that the death 
penalty should not in any case be inflicted. 

The settlement was well received by the burghers, of 
whom fully twenty thousand came in and gave up their arms 
in the course of a week or two. Many of the Commandos 
fraternized with the British troops and joined them in singing 
" God Save the King." As soon as the decision for peace had 
been ratified Lord Kitchener paid a visit to Vereeniging and 
addressed the assembled Boer leaders. He congratulated 
them upon the splendid fight they had made. "If he had 
been one of them himself he would have been proud to have 
done as they had done. He welcomed them as citizens of a 
great Empire and hoped they would do their duty to the Sov- 
ereign as loyally as they had to the old State." Messrs. 
Schalk-Burger and Louis Botha had, meanwhile, written fare- 
well letters to the burghers which concluded by asking them to 
be obedient and respectful to their new Government. 

Immediately on receipt of the information that peace had 
been signed King Edward issued the following message : 
'' The King has received the welcome news of the cessation of 
hostilities in South Africa with infinite satisfaction, and trusts 
that peace may be speedily followed by the restoration of pros- 
perity in his new dominions, and that the feelings necessarily 
engendered by war will give place to the earnest co-operation 
of all His Majesty's South African subjects in promoting the 
welfare of their common country." At the same time His 
Majesty cabled Lord Milner : " I am overjoyed at the news 



366 THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 

of the surrender of the Boer forces and I warmly congratulate 
you on the able manner in which you have conducted the 
negotiations." A similar despatch went to Lord Kitchener, 
with hearty congratulations on the termination of hostilities : 
" I also most heartily congratulate my brave troops under 
your command for having brought this long and difficult cam- 
paign to so glorious and successful a conclusion." The King' 
also announced that he had created Lord Kitchener a Viscount 
and promoted him to be full General. Following the public 
announcement of peace on Sunday, June ist, came a flood of 
congratulatory telegrams to the King from public bodies and 
private individuals, and celebrations were held all over the 
United Kingdom and the British Empire. 

On June 8th, by order of the King, a special thanksgiving 
service was held in St. Paul's Cathedral and His Majesty 
attended in person accompanied by Queen Alexandra, Princess 
Victoria, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Prince and Prin- 
cess Charles of Denmark, the Duke and Duchess of Con- 
naught, the veteran Duke of Cambridge, and other members 
of the Royal family. A great gathering of representative 
Britons was present in the crowded Cathedral, including most 
of the members of the Houses of Lords and Commons and the 
Corporation of London. Amongst many other notabilities 
were the Duke and Duchess of Argyll, Mr. Balfour, the Earl 
of Rosebery, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl and Countess 
Roberts, Earl and Countess Carrington, Lady Macdonald of 
Earnscliffe, Sir Redvers and Lady Audrey Buller. A short 
and eloquent sermon was preached by Bishop Winnington. 
Ingram, of London, in which he referred to the blessings of 
peace for the people and the completion of the causes for 
rejoicing at the approaching Coronation. Meanwhile, on June 
4th, the King had followed up the honours already conferred 
on Lord Kitchener by sending a special message to the 
House of Commons at the hands of Mr. A. J. Balfour, the 



THE KING AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR 367 

Government Leader, to the following effect : " His Majesty tak- 
ing" into consideration the eminent services rendered by Lord 
Kitchener and beiiiLT desirous, in recognition of such services, 
to confer on him some signal mark of his favour, recommends 
that he, the King, should be enabled to grant Lord Kitchener 
,£50.000." The vote was carried by a majority of three hun- 
dred and eighty-two to forty-two and marked the final stage 
in the war — its prolonged struggles, its negotiations, its 
honours and its rewards. To the King this result was the one 
thing needful and seemed to leave a fair field, a peaceful 
Empire, a loyal people, waiting without a shadow on the sun 
to share in the splendid celebration of his approaching Coro- 
nation. To the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London and 
the London County Council His Majesty addressed, on June 
13th, some words in reply to their expressions of loyalty and 
congratulation at the conclusion of peace, which may appro- 
priately be quoted here : 

" I heartily join in your expression of thankfulness to Almighty 
God at the termination of a struggle which, while it has entailed on my 
people at home and beyond the seas so many sacrifices, borne with admir- 
able fortitude, has secured a result which will give increased unity and 
strength to my Empire. The cordial and spontaneous exertions of all parts 
of my dominions, as well as of your ancient and loyal city, have done 
much to bring about this happy result. 

' ' You give fitting expression to the admiration universally felt for 
the valour and endurance of the officers and men who have been engaged 
in fighting their country's battles. They have been opposed by a brave 
and determined people, and have had to encounter unexampled difficul- 
ties. These difficulties have been cheerfully overcome by steady and 
persistent effort, and those who were our opponents will now, I rejoice to 
think, become our friends. It is my earnest hope that, by mutual co-op- 
eration and good- will, the bitter feelings of the past may speedily be. 
replaced by ties of loyalty and friendship and that an era of peace and 
prosperity may be in store for South Africa." 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Arrangements for the Coronation. 

THE preparations for the Coronation of the King were of 
a character which eclipsed anything in the history of the 
world. It was unquestionably his aim and intention to 
make the event an illustration of the power of the British 
Empire, the loyalty of its people and the unity of its complex 
races. The pride of the King in his great position, the knowl- 
edge which he had acquired of the Empire in his innumerable 
travels, the statecraft which he had inherited and developed, 
were all factors in the determination to make this occasion 
memorable. Connected with the splendour of the event, as 
planned, was the personal relationship and friendship of most 
of the Sovereigns of Europe with and for His Majesty and, 
associated with every detail of its anticipated success, was the 
enthusiastic loyalty of Indian Princes and great self-governing 
British dominions beyond the seas. Finally, the end of the 
South African War came as if to add the one thing wanting 
to the entire success of the most magnificent Coronation in 
all history. Preparations went on apace from the beginning 
of Spring, 1902. The mere material evidences of the coming 
event transformed busy and commercial London into a forest 
of boards and poles and platforms. Westminister Abbey was 
chano-ed inside and out and a special entrance was made for 
the King and Queen Alexandra to enter through, and so made 
as to harmonize with the general architecture and character of 
the building. 
368 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 3 6 9 

A thousand great beacon lights were built over the United 
Kingdom so that from shore to shore the news of the crown- 
ing of the King might be flashed in flames of light to the 
people. In London and other centres every kind of device 
for electrical display and illumination was prepared and, toward 
the middle of June, flags and bunting in myriad forms began 
to show themselves. In other parts of the Empire almost 
every city and town and village arranged for some kind of 
demonstration. Banquets and garden parties and band con- 
certs and processions and military reviews and all the varied 
means by which the English-speaking person expresses his 
feelings were in full tide of preparation as the time of the 
Coronation grew near. India had its own unique and Orien- 
tal modes of expressing loyalty and the feeling there was 
enhanced by the news that the new Prince of Wales was going 
to repeat the state visit of his father, the King, in December 
of this year and see the people of practically the only part of 
the British realms which he had not yet visited. South Africa 
was to celebrate peace and loyalty at the same time and the 
great centres of Australia were not behind the rest of the 
Empire despite the existing gloom of draughts and sheep 
famine. 

The guests invited to attend the great function might be 
divided into two classes — those who came to a common centre 
for the celebration of their Sovereign's crowning, for the pre- 
sentation of a picture of Imperial unity, and for the discus- 
sion of questions incident to the wide-spread dominions of the 
King ; and those who came from foreign nations as a tribute 
to the position of Great Britain in the world and as a token of 
their friendship for its people as well as their respect for its 
ruler. In the first list the first place may be given to India 
because of the element of gorgeousness and Oriental pomp 
which its representatives were to bring to the function. Cal- 
cutta was to be represented by Maharajah Kumar Tagore* 

24 



37° ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 

Bombay by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, the scion of a series of 
great merchants ; Madras by Rajah Sir Savalai Ramaswami 
Mudaliyar ; Bengal and the Presidencies of Bombay and Mad- 
ras by distinguished gentlemen of long names and varied titles ; 
the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh by the Hon. N. M. 
D. F. Ali Khan, who had served in both the Provincial and" 
Supreme Councils, and by Rajah Pertab Singh ; the Punjab 
sent two representatives of whom Sir Harnman Singh Ahlu- 
walia belonged to the Viceroy's Legislative Council and repre- 
sented indirectly the native Christians ; the Central Provinces, 
Assam, Burmah and the new North-West Frontier Province 
also appointed representatives. Other guests from India 
included the Sultan Muhammad Ao;ha Khan of the Khoga 
Community. 

The special Royal guests from the Colonies were General 
Sir Francis W. Grenfell, representing Gibraltar, Malta and 
Cyprus; Sir Joseph West Ridgeway, representing Fiji and 
various Eastern Colonies and Protectorates ; Sir Walter J. 
Sendall, for the West Indies, Bermudas, British Honduras and 
the Falkland Islands ; Sir William MacGregor, representing 
the West African Colonies and Protectorates; the Right Hon. 
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister, representing the Dominion 
of Canada; the Right Hon. Edmund Barton, Prime Minister, 
representing the Commonwealth of Australia ; the Right Hon. 
Richard J. Sedden, Prime Minister, representing New Zea 
land ; the Right Hon. Sir J. Gordon Sprigg, Prime Minister, 
representing Cape Colony; Sir Albert H. Hime, Prime Min- 
ister, representing Natal ; and Sir Robert Bond, Prime Minis- 
ter, representing Newfoundland. Other British guests were 
His Highness the Sultan of Perak and Lewanika, Chief of the 
Barotzes, in Africa. There were many invitations accepted 
outside of the list of special names mentioned who were privi- 
leged as the King's guests and as such were to be put up in 
state at the Hotel Cecil and be provided with Royal carriages 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 37 i 

and servants and escorts. Governors of various minor Colo- 
nies and dependencies ; Native Princes of India apart from 
the official representatives of its Cities and Provinces ; Pre- 
miers of Australian States and Canadian Provinces ; were all 
invited to be present and many of them came to grace the 
occasion. Amongst those from Canada who accepted the 
invitation and were in London, with the others already 
referred to, as the day for the ceremony approached, were the 
Hon. G. W. Ross, Premier of Ontario, the Hon. H. T. Duffy, 
representing the Premier of Quebec, the Hon. R. P. Roblin, 
Premier of Manitoba, the Hon. James Dunsmuir Premier of 
British Columbia, the Hon. L. J. Tweedie, Premier of New 
Brunswick and the Hon. G. H. Murray, Premier of Nova 
Scotia. 

Every foreign country or state of importance had its 
official representative appointed and they poured into London 
and were received with varying degrees of state and ceremony 
as the eventful day approached. Prominent amongst them 
were the Hon. Whitelaw Reid, special Ambassador from the 
United States and, in an unofficial capacity, Senator Chauncey 
M. Depew. From Russia came the Grand Duke Michael, 
Heir Presumptive to the Throne; from Italy His Royal High- 
ness the Duke d 'Aosta ; from Greece the Crown Prince and 
Heir to the Throne ; from Bulgaria, the reigning Prince Ferdi- 
nand I. ; from Belgium, Prince Albert of Flanders; from Ger- 
many, Prince Henry of Prussia; from Denmark the Crown 
Prince Frederick, Heir to the Throne; from Roumania the 
Crown Prince ; from Austria the Arch- duke Francis Ferdi- 
nand, Heir Presumptive ; from France, Admiral Gervais, 
special Ambassador ; from Rome, Mgr. Merry del Val ; from 
Abyssinia, Ras Makonnen, the victorius general and special 
envoy of the Emperor Menelik ; from Bavaria, Prince Leopold ; 
from Sweden and Norway the Crown Prince ; from Portugal, 
the Crown Prince. 



372 ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 

Other foreign representatives were Duke Albert of Wur- 
temberg, Prince Waldemar of Denmark, General Dubois of 
France, Field Marshal Count Von Waldersee and Admiral 
Von Koeter of Germany, Prince George, Prince Nicholas and 
Prince Andrew of Greece, the Crand Duke of Mecklenburg- 
Strelitz, Prince Danilo of Montenegro, the Duke of Saxe- 
Coburg and Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg, Prince George 
of Saxony, the Prince of the Asturias from Spain, Prince Chen 
of China, Prince Mohamed Ali of Egypt, Prince Akihito 
Komatsu of Japan, Prince Yo Chai-Kak of Korea, Baron de 
Stein of Liberia, the Prince of Monaco, the Crown Prince of 
Siam and special Ministers from Luxemburg, the Netherlands, 
Turkey, Honduras, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Persia, Servia 
and Uruguay. 

Soldiers of the King from all parts of the Empire were 
present in England for the occasion. The Indian troops, 
quartered at Hampton Court, numbered nine hundred strong 
and represented every phase of the military and native life of 
Hindostan. Sikhs, Dogras, Jats, Pathans, Mohammedans from 
the Punjaub, the Deccan and Madras, Mahrattas, Rajpoots, 
Garwhal's, Gurkhas, Afridis, Tamils, Moplahs, Hazaras and 
Beloochis, were each represented in uniforms of their local 
regiments. Scarlet, yellow, blue, grey, green and red, were 
some of the colours to be seen. At the Alexandra Palace 
were soldiers from a great variety of countries. Canada sent 
six hundred and fifty-six men, representative of all its regi 
ments, under command of Lieut.-Colonel H. M. Pellatt and 
Lieut.-Colonel R. E. W. Turner V.C., D.S.O. ; Australia sent 
one hundred and forty men under Colonel St. Clair Cameron 
C. B. ; New Zealand seventy-nine men under Colonel Porter ; 
Cape Colony one hundred and fifty under Major-General Sir 
Edward Y. Brabant ; Natal, ninety-nine under Lieut.-Colonel 
E. M. Greene ; Rhodesia twenty-six, Ceylon fifty-four, Malta 
forty-six, and Cyprus fourteen men. Native contingents 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 373 

included variously coloured and clad soldiers from the Gold 
Coast of Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Lagos, British Central 
Africa, British East Africa, Uganda, Somaliland, Straits Set- 
tlements, Bermuda, British Borneo, the West Indies, Fiji, 
Hong-Kong and Wei-hai-Wei. The Colonial troops, with their 
interesting war record, their varied and striking uniforms, their 
varieties of race and colour and country, their differences of 
physique and appearance, were not the least remarkable of the 
Empire contributions to a great function. The Duke of Con- 
naught was in command of all the Forces for the occasion and 
with him were associated Lord Roberts, Lord Wolseley, Sir 
Francis Grenfell, Sir William Butler, Major-General W. H. 
Mackinnon, Sir Edward Brabant and other officers connected 
with the late war. Colonel and Maharajah Sir Pertab Singh 
represented India on this Staff and Lieutenant-General Sir 
Archibald Hunter was in immediate command of the Colonial 
Contingents. 

Various Foreign regiments were to be represented includ- 
ing the 1st Prussian Dragoons of Germany, the 12th Hussars 
of Austria, the Guard Hussars of Denmark and the forces of 
Russia and Portugal. All the great British regiments were to 
be included, either in the procession as cavalry, or along the 
route as infantry. Preparations for the great Naval Review 
were elaborate. The Channel, Home and Cruiser squadrons 
were to be in attendance with Admiral Sir Charles Hotham 
as Commander-in-Chief. Besides a number of Foreign war- 
ships, which were specially sent to participate in the function, 
the British battle-ships numbered twenty-one, the cruisers 
twenty-six, the torpedo gun-boats seventeen, the torpedo boat 
destroyers twenty-eight and the sea-going training vessels ten. 
Amongst the Foreign contributors to the Review were Ger- 
many, the United States, Russia, Sweden and Norway, Den- 
mark, Greece, France, Japan, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, 
Portugal, Chili, Austro- Hungary and the Argentine. 



374 ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 

All the complex arrangement of the details in connection 
with these and other elements of the Coronation festivities 
were in the hands of an Executive Committee appointed on 
June 28th, 1 901, at a meeting of the King and his Privy 
Council and attended by most of the members of the Cabinet, 
the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Dukes of Nor- 
folk, Portland and Fife, the Earls of Rosebery, Selborne and 
Carrington, Earl Roberts, Earl Spencer, Lord Alverstone, Sir 
W. V. Harcourt, and Sir Henry Campbell - Bannerman. 
Amongst the members of this Executive of fifteen were the 
Duke of Norfolk (chairman) Lord Esher, the Bishop of Win- 
chester, Lord Farquhar, Mr. Schomberg K. McDonnell, Col- 
onel Sir Edward Bradford, Sir Francis Knollys, Sir Edward 
W. Hamilton, Colonel Sir E. W. D. Ward, Major-General 
Sir Arthur Ellis and Rear-Admiral W. H. Fawkes. Later on 
Sir Montagu Ommanney, Sir William Lee-Warner, Sir Kenelm 
Digby, Lieut. -General Kelly-Kenny, and others, were added. 
Their work was, of course, closely overlooked by the King who 
was in constant communication with the Duke of Norfolk and 
Sir Francis Knollys. The following programme of leading 
events was finally announced as approved by His Majesty : 

June 23 State Dinner at Buckingham Palace. 

Jund 24 The King and Queen to receive Foreign Envoys and Deputa- 
tions. State Dinner at Buckingham Palace. 

June 25 Royal Reception of Colonial Premiers. Dinner by Prince of 
Wales to Princes and Envoys at St. James's Palace. 

June 26 The Coronation. 

June 27 Procession through London. Luncheon at Buckingham Palace. 
Dinner at Landsdowne House to King and Queen. Lady 
Lansdowne's Reception. 

June 28 The Naval Review. 

June 29 Ambassadors and Ministers give Dinners to their respective 
Princes. 

June 30 The King and Queen proceed from Portsmouth to London. 
Gala Opera. 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 375 

July 1 Royal Garden Party at Windsor Castle. 

July 2 Dinner at Londonderry House to the King and Queen. 

July 3 The King and Queen to attend a Special Service at St. Paul's 

Cathedral and a Luncheon at the Guildhall given by Lord 

Mayor and Corporation. 
July 4 Reception at the India Office in honour of the Indian Princes to 

be attended by the King and Queen. 
July 5 The King's Coronation Dinner to the Poor. 

Many other functions developed around these central 
ones until the weeks before and after the event were to be 
crowded with every sort of festivity and celebration — partly in 
honour of the occasion, partly as evidences of hospitality to 
Colonial, Indian and Foreign visitors. At Portsmouth ar- 
rangements were made for a banquet in the Drill-hall, on June 
26th, to one thousand men from the Foreign war-ships, with 
five hundred British seamen and marines as hosts. On the 
following day there were to be athletic sports for the sailors 
and a garden party by the Mayor and Mayoress for the officers 
of the fleets and distinguished visitors. Following the Review, 
on June 28th, arrangements were made for a garden party at 
Whale Island, for an Admiralty ball in the Town-Hall, for a 
luncheon to the officers, a Civic entertainment to the men and 
a ball given by the Mayor and Mayoress. In London a Coro- 
nation bazaar, in aid of the Sick Children's Hospital, was 
announced with various stalls in charge of Princess Henry of 
Pless, the Duchess of Westminster, Lady Tweedmouth, Mrs. 
Harmsworth, the Countess of Bective, Mrs. Choate, the 
Duchess of Somerset and Countess Carrington. The King's 
Dinner to the Poor of London was planned upon an enormous 
scale and His Majesty stated that he would spend ,£30,000 in 
thus entertaining half-a-million o f his poorer subjects. Sir 
Thomas Lipton, who had been in charge of a smaller affair at the 
Diamond Jubilee, was given control of the details. Similar 
preparations, upon a minor scale of course, were going on 



376 ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 

all over the Empire and in New York a Coronation Ode 
was issued by Mr. Bliss Carman — a Canadian by birth — which 
did the subject noble justice and commenced with the follow- 
ing verse : 

"There are joy-bells over England, there are flags in London town ; 
There is bunting on the Channel where the fleets go up and down ; 
There are bon-fires alight 
In the pageant of the night ; 

There are bands that blare for splendour and guns that speak for might ; 
For another King of England is coming to the Crown." 

Meanwhile, a Colonial Conference had also been arranged 
to take place during these weeks of celebration and the dele- 
gates were to be special Royal guests for the Coronation — 
Sir Francis W. Grenfell, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Mr. Seddon, 
Mr. Barton, Sir W. J. Sendall, Sir William MacGregor, 
Sir Gordon Sprigg, Sir Albert Hime, Sir Robert Bond, 
and Sir West Ridgeway — together with Mr. Chamberlain 
and the Earl of Onslow, Under-Secretary of the Colonies. 
The official programme, published a few days before the date 
set for the Coronation, gave the details of the Royal proces- 
sion on that and the following days. On June 26th, in passing 
from Buckingham Abbey, there were to be eight carriages 
containing the Royal visitors and members of the Royal 
familv, the Prince and Princess of Wales and then the state 
coach with the King and Queen — having the Duke of Con- 
naught riding to its right and a considerable staff and brilliant 
escort of Life Guards behind. 

The procession of the following day was to be essentially 
an Imperial pageant and was to pass over a popular city route. 
The Colonial portion came first on the programme, headed by 
Lieut-General Sir A. Hunter, and with detatchments of Cana- 
dian artillery and cavalry and Australian cavalry preceding a 
carriage containing Sir Wilfrid and Lady Laurier and Mr. and 
Mrs. Barton. Then followed carriages with Sir R. Bond and 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 377 

Mr. and Mrs. Seddon, Sir Gordon and Miss Sprigg, Sir Albert 
and Miss Hime, Sir W. Ridgeway and Sir F. Grenfell, Sir W. 
Sendall, and Sir W. MacGregor, the Sultan of Perak and King 
Lewanika — each preceded or followed by detachments of New 
Z aland, Cape, Natal, Ceylon, Trinidad, Cyprus and other 
Colonial cavalry, in accordance with the country represented. 
1 hen was to come the Indian portion of the procession includ- 
ing varied detachments of Native cavalry, and with carriages 
containing the Maharajahs of Jaipur, Kolapore and Bikanur. 
Following these was to be a long line of British artillery and 
Aids-de-Camp to the King, representing the Volunteers, Yeo- 
manry, Militia and Regular forces and the Marines. The 
Head-Quarters staff came next, then Field Marshals in the 
Army, Foreign naval and military attaches, deputations of 
Foreign officers, then Indian Aides-de-Camp to the King — the 
Maharajahs of Gwalior, Gooch and Idur — and several mem- 
bers of the Royal family on horseback. Then came thirteen 
carriages containing Royal visitors, special Ambassadors and 
members of the Royal family, followed by special escorts of 
Colonial and Indian troops and Royal Horse Guards. The 
King and Queen were to come next, in a splendid state coach 
drawn by eight horses, with the Duke of Connaught riding on 
one side of them and the Prince of Wales on the other. 

THE KING'S PRELIMINARY WORK AND ILLNESS 

Some of the incidents connected with the Coronation as 
preliminaries were carried out by the King with apparent 
energy and in the midst of what were known to be very heavy 
labours. On May 30th His Majesty presented colours to the 
Irish Guards, received the Maharajah Sir Pertab Singh, held 
an investiture of the Garter in great state, visited Westmins- 
ter Abbey to see the Coronation preparations, and gave a 
large dinner party. During the next three days he presented 
medals to the St. John Ambulance Brigade and held a Levee 



378 ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 

and investiture of the Bath. On June 4th he gave audiences 
to various Ministers, proceeded with the Queen to the Derby, 
gave a dinner to the Jockey Club and then joined the Queen 
at the Duchess of Devonshire's dance. On June 6th the King 
received the Indian Princes at Buckingham Palace and after- 
wards, with Queen Alexandra, held a stately Court function. 
Two days later the King and Royal family attended a service 
of thanksgiving for peace at St. Paul's Cathedral. Other in- 
cidents followed and on June 14th His Majesty, accompanied 
by Queen Alexandra, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the 
Duke and Duchess of Connaught, Princess Victoria and 
Princess Margaret, of Connaught, visited Aldershot to inspect 
the forty thousand troops which had been slowly gathering 
there for weeks. A stormy and wet day changed to bright- 
ness as the Royal party arrived and the town was found to be 
prettily decorated and filled with enthusiastic people. A great 
Tattoo was held in the evening with massed bands and myriad 
torch-lights, but with not very pleasant weather. 

On the following day it was announced in the Times that 
the King could not attend church owing- to a slight attack of 
lumbago caused by a chill contracted the night before. Queen 
Alexandra attended the service, however, and in the after- 
noon visited several charitable institutions. Monday the 16th 
saw His Majesty still too much indisposed to take his part in 
reviewing the troops and this function was fulfilled by the 
Queen, accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Wales. In 
the afternoon the King and Queen returned to Windsor and 
in the evening His Majesty was able to be present at a dinner 
party in the Castle. On the following day the Times ex- 
pressed editorial pleasure at the King's apparent recovery but 
urged caution and suggested that, despite the disappointment 
of the people, it might be better if Ascot were not visited by 
him on that day and the next but a substantial rest taken 
instead. The same idea seemed to occur to the Royal 



ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CORONATION 379 

physicians because not only was the visit to Ascot cancelled but 
also a long-expected visit to Eton which had been arranged 
for June 21st. 

Other functions were postponed or cancelled and it was 
announced that His Majesty was resting quietly and preparing 
himself for the essential and heavy functions of the Corona- 
tion week. Such was the apparent position of affairs in con- 
nection with this great event as massed myriads of people 
roamed the streets of London and the other and varied mil- 
lions of the British Empire threw themselves into the final 
stages of preparation. Such was the position on June 21st 
when the Toronto Globe, in a very fitting editorial, embodied 
the popular feeling of Canada. It declared that on the 
following Thursday the historic Abbey of Westminster and 
the streets of London would see " the greatest ceremonial 
which our times have known " ; that no King " ever ascended 
a throne with the more universal consent of the governed than 
does Edward VII." ; and that the British people had never 
been fickle in their feelings toward him who was once Prince 
of Wales and was now King. " Their affection for him has 
never faltered and they will feel gratified on Thursday that 
the concluding ceremony of Coronation has fixed him firmly 
on the most glorious of earthly thrones". 



CHAPTER XXII. 

The Illness of the King. 

IF the almost fatal sickness of the Prince of Wales in 1871 
was historic, from the sympathy it evoked and the influ- 
ence it wielded, that of the King in June 1902 was infi- 
nitely more memorable. At the latter period the attention of 
the whole civilized world was focussed upon the figure of the 
Sovereign who was about to be crowned amid scenes of unpre- 
cedented splendour; the press of the Empire and the United 
States was filled with the record of his movements ; the rep- 
resentatives of the Courts of Europe had arrived or were 
arriving; the Prime Ministers of a dozen countries and the 
Governors of many other countries of his far-flung realm were 
in London ; dense crowds were swarming through the streets 
of the gaily-decorated metropolis ; the approaching day was 
being looked forward to by many millions of people in many 
lands as an evidence, in its successful splendour, of the power 
and prosperity of the Empire. Three days before the 26th of 
June the King and Queen Alexandra had arrived in London 
from Windsor and the Coronation festivities proper had com- 
menced. His Majesty had looked well and had smiled and 
bowed freely to the welcoming multitudes along the line of 
route. Rumors of his having caught cold had prevailed, it is 
true, and in certain sensational quarters there had been 
statements as to serious illness and even allegations of paraly- 
sis. 

But the evidence of that drive through the cheering 
streets of London was deemed conclusive and during that 
380 



THE ILLNESS OF THE KING 381 

afternoon and the next morning the crowds increased and the 
excitement grew until sober-minded observers who had seen 
the celebrations of the Queen's Jubilee and the Diamond Jubi- 
lee and knew something of the millions then gathered together 
were dismayed at the prospect of the massed multitudes of 
Coronation day. It was at 12.45 p. m. on June 24th, when the 
streets were packed with moving, happy, holiday crowds and 
the decorations were nearing completion and their full effect 
and force becoming apparent to the on-lookers, that an official 
bulletin was posted at the Mansion House which seemed to 
reach every one in London at the same instant — so rapidly 
was the news spread. News that almost on the steps of the 
throne, within a day of the mightiest festival ever designed by 
human government and helped by a willing people, the King 
had been stricken down ! It appeared incredible. The people 
of England and of the Empire were almost as dumb-founded 
as the masses on the streets of the Metropolis. But there was 
no way of getting beyond the simple words of the bulletin 
signed by Lord Lister, Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Francis Laking, 
Sir Thomas Barlow and Sir Frederick Treves : " The King- is 
suffering from perityphlitis. His condition on Saturday was 
so satisfactory that it was hoped that with care His Majesty 
would be able to go through the ceremony. On Monday 
evening a recrudescence became manifest rendering a surgical 
operation necessary to-day." 

The trouble approximated to the disease known in the 
United States and Canada as appendicitis and was of a char- 
acter which made certainty as to recovery quite impossible and 
left the widest scope for fears and discussion and speculation. 
It was analysed by Dr. Cyrus Edson, a well-known New York 
physician, as follows : " Perityphlitis is inflammation, including 
the formation of an abscess of the tissues around the vermi- 
form appendix and hence it is very hard to distinguish from 
appendicitis. Usually an operation is necessary to ascertain 



382 THE ILLNESS OF THE KING 

whether the appendix or the surrounding tissue is diseased." 
The King's physicians gave the public all the information they 
wisely could. The operation was performed by Sir Frederick 
Treves, the most eminent living- surgeon in this connection, 
shortly after the first bulletin was issued and at six o'clock it 
was announced that " His Majesty continues to make satisfac- 
tory progress and has been much relieved by the operation." 
Five hours later the physicians stated that the King's condi- 
tion was " as good as could be expected after so serious an 
operation." It would be some days, however, they added, 
before it would be possible to say he was out of danger. The 
doctors remained at Buckingham Palace all that night and 
but little news crept out from the silence surrounding the great 
pile of buildings to that stirring outer world which had grown 
so suddenly and strangely quiet. 

Following the startling announcement of the King's ill- 
ness came the necessary statement that the Coronation cere- 
mony was indefinitely postponed and the further intimation 
that the King himself had asked that celebrations in the Pro- 
vinces outside London might be continued. In London, he 
had specified his wish, before the operation took place, that 
the dinner which was to be given to half-a-million of poor 
people should not be postponed and His Majesty had expressed 
keen sorrow, not at what he had already suffered himself or 
was likely to suffer, but at the disappointment which his people 
would everywhere feel. Gradually it came out that for over 
a week he had been ill ; that the pain had been very great at 
times ; that the physicians had acceded to his determination 
to go on with the ceremonies and the Coronation until longer 
delay in operation would have made the result fatal ; that the 
King's one anxiety had been not to disappoint the millions 
who would be in London and the millions who would look on 
from abroad during the long-looked for event. 



THE ILLNESS OF THE KING 383 

The story of the illness as it developed was made known 
by the Lancet on June 27th. It seems that on Friday June 
13th His Majesty had gone through a particularly arduous 
day and next morning was attended by Sir Francis Lakino- 
vvho found him suffering from considerable abdominal discom- 
fort. In the afternoon he felt better and went to Aldershot 
where the unfortunately wet and cold weather at the Tattoo 
caused a distinct revival of the trouble in the early morning 
accompanied by severe pain. Sir F. Laking was sent for and 
in turn telegraphed Sir Thomas Barlow. On the 15th, the 
Royal patient had a chilly fit but on Monday returned to 
Windsor and bore the journey well. Two days later he was 
seen by Sir Frederick Treves who found symptoms of peri- 
typhlitis. These, however, gradually disappeared and on 
Saturday, the 21st, His Majesty was believed to be on the 
road to rapid recovery and to be able to go through the Coro- 
nation ceremonies. 

"Sunday was uneventful. On Monday the King travelled 
from Windsor to London. Next day the necessity for an 
operation became clear." The Lancet gave no reason for this 
sudden change in condition and it may have been the excite- 
ment and strain of the drive through cheering- masses of the 
London populace. " At ten o'clock Tuesday morning (24th) 
the urgency of an operation was explained to His Majesty. 
Recognizing that his ardent hope that the Coronation arrange- 
ments might not be upset must be disappointed he cheerfully 
resigned himself to the inevitable. Before the actual decision 
upon an operation was arrived at Sir Frederick Treves took 
the advice of two other sergeant-surgeons to the King, Lord 
Lister and Sir Thomas Smith. They, as well as Sir Thomas 
Barlow and Sir Francis Laking, came to the unanimous con- 
clusion that no course but an operation was possible in all the 
circumstances. To delay would, in fact, be to allow His 
Majesty to risk his life." Such appears to have been the plain 



384 THE ILLNESS OF THE KING 

statement of this serious incident. Following the operation 
the course of the disease was steadily towards recovery and 
without serious complications of any kind. Danger at first 
there was and neither physicians, nor family, nor the public 
could feel anything like assurance of recovery. 

PROGRESS TOWARDS RECOVERY 

The London Times went out of its way to warn the 
people against over-confidence in the result, and the bulletins 
were cautious in the extreme. On June 25th the King was 
said to have been very restless and without sleep during the 
early part of the night. He was, however, free from pain, and 
his five physicians declared that, under all the circumstances, 
he might be described as " progressing satisfactorily." On 
June 26th they reported His Majesty's condition as satisfac- 
tory, his strength as having been well maintained, and the 
wound as doing well The reports of June 27th showed a 
normal temperature, no disquieting symptoms and, finally, a 
substantial improvement. On the next day the five physicians 
issued the following bulletin : " We are happy to be able to 
state that we consider His Majesty out of immediate 
danger. His general condition is satisfactory. The operation 
wound, however, still needs constant attention and such con- 
cern as attaches to His Majesty's case is connected with the 
wound. Under the most favourable condition His Majesty's 
recovery must of necessity be protracted." The bulletins 
thenceforward were regular in their statements of slow and 
steady improvement. On July 2d it was announced that the 
wound was beginning to heal ; then only daily reports were 
issued; and finally, on July 13th, the Royal patient was taken 
by private train from Buckingham Palace to his yacht at Ports- 
mouth and, during the next few weeks, while it was anchored 
or quietly cruising off Cowes, the King was steadily growing 
stronger and better. 



THE ILLNESS OF THE KING 385 

The bare details of an illness such as this can give no idea 
of the burden of apprehension which it entailed upon millions 
of people, the financial losses which it meant to thousands of 
merchants and others in all parts of the world, the dislocation 
of a political, social, and general character which it involved 
in London, the consternation which it naturally caused in every 
centre in the Empire. The first effect of the King's illness was 
to create a new tie of sympathy between himself and his sub- 
jects. Human suffering borne so patiently during that week 
of concealed sickness and with such earnest determination to 
go through what must have come to appear the frightful ordeal 
of the Coronation appealed strongly to people everywhere in 
the Empire, while the externally dramatic passage from prepa- 
rations for the greatest of national festivities down into the 
valley of the shadow of death came home to the hearts of 
every one with peculiar force. This was particularly apparent 
in Westminster Abbey where the last rehearsal of the great 
Coronation choir, in the presence of the Bishop of London 
and under the musical direction of Sir Frederick Bridge, was 
proceeding at noon on June 24th. Suddenly, Lord Esher 
entered and told the sad news to the Bishop, who, in a few 
words, turned the service of national rejoicing into one of 
solemn intercession. Everywhere there were similar services 
and similar sudden changes. Coronation day, despite the 
King's kindly wish that demonstrations and functions outside 
of London should proceed, was turned into a season of special 
service and prayer in Great Britain and in the many other 
countries of the Empire. 

A pathetic service was held in St. Paul's Cathedral on 
the evening of the announced illness, and the Bishop of Step- 
ney spoke in most impressive terms. "As the days have 
passed, our thoughts and, I trust, our prayers have been cen- 
tred in the King as he has moved to his Coronation watched 
by millions of eyes. Only yesterday we welcomed him to 
25 



386 THE ILLNESS OE THE KING 

London with heartfelt joy. All around us is the glamour of 
preparation for a splendid festival. The very air is vivid with 
the glow of popular enthusiasm. From all parts of the earth 
our brethren have come to rivet anew the links which bind 
them to our ancient Monarchy. And now come the tidings 
that this King is laid low with sickness and that the great day 
has been postponed. We are bewildered. We cannot realize, 
except in imagination, the dislocation of the life of a whole 
Empire." Meanwhile, the Archbishops of Canterbury and 
York had asked their clergy to hold intercessory services on 
June 26th, and Cardinal Vaughan, for his Church, had given 
similar orders. " The finger of God," he wrote to his clergy, 
"has appeared in the midst of our national rejoicing and on 
the eve of what promised to be one of the most splendid 
pageants in English history. This is in order to call the 
thoughts of all men to Himself. The King's life is in danger. 
Danger being imminent, let us have immediate recourse to the 
Divine mercy and by public prayer seek His Majesty's 
recovery." The Chief Rabbi held special Jewish supplications 
and the Chairman of the Congregational Union of England 
and Wales telegraphed to Sir Francis Knollys their hope that 
it might please God to spare the King's valuable life so "that 
he may rule for many years over his devoted people." 

Telegrams of inquiry and sympathy poured into the Palace, 
the Departments of the Government, and the Guildhall, for 
days after the eventful incident of the operation. On the day 
that should have witnessed the stately splendour of the Coro- 
nation, St. Paul's Cathedral was the scene of a solemn service 
of intercession for the recovery of the King. The Bishops of 
London and Stepney, the Archdeacon of London and Canons 
Holland and Newbolt were the officiating clergy and with 
them were the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and a 
dozen other Bishops. The Lord Mayor of London was present 
officially and the Duke of Cambridge and Duke of Teck. So 



THE ILLNESS OF THE KING 387 

were the special missions of France, Spain, Germany, Mexico 
and other countries, the Hon. Whitelaw Reid and Mr. Ch at , 
the American Ambassador. Lord Selborne, Lord Cadogan 
and Mr. Ritchie represented the Cabinet while the Premiers 
of Canada, Australia, Cape Colony, Natal, New Zealand, 
Western Australia v and South Australia, with the Sultan of 
Perak, the Rajah of Bobbili, Sir Jamesetjee Jejeebhoy, and 
others represented the Colonial and Indian Empire. A large 
number of the leaders in the public, social and general life of 
the country were also there. At the same time a similarly 
impressive service was held in Margaret's, Westminster, the 
official church of the House of Commons, attended by the 
Lord Chancellor and Speaker, the Duke and Duchess of 
Devonshire, Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman, Lord and Lady 
Londonderry, and many members of both Houses of Parlia- 
ment. A multitude of other churches held intercessory ser- 
vices at home and abroad on this day — notably, perhaps, one 
arranged by the National Council of Free Churches and held 
in the City Temple. Orders were given by the heads of all 
kinds of denominations in all kinds of countries to pray for 
the King on the succeeding Sunday and, in most of the great 
Colonies of the Crown, that day was specially set apart for the 
purpose. 

EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY 

Meanwhile, the messages continued to pour in from Gov- 
ernments as well as individuals or institutions. General Sir 
Neville Lyttelton for the Army in South Africa, Lord Hopetoun 
for the Government and people of Australia, Sir Edmund 
Barton, the Premier of Australia, the Legislature of New 
South Wales, the Governors of the other Australian States 
and New Zealand, the Governors of Fiji, Gambia, Cape Colony, 
Mauritius, Bermuda, Newfoundland, and Gibraltar, the Admin- 
istrators of Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Ceylon, Hong-Kong and 
Wei-hai-Wei, the Governor of the Straits Settlements and the 



3 88 THE ILLNESS OF THE KING 

Premier of Natal sent despatches of sympathy and regret. In 
the United States much kindly feeling was expressed. Papers 
such as the New York Commercial- Advertizer ; Tribune and 
Post were more than kindly and generous in their regrets ; 
others were merely sensational. The President hastened to 
cable an expression of the nation's sentiments and, at Harvard 
University on June 25th, said : " Let me speak for all Ameri- 
cans when I say that we watch with the deepest concern and 
interest the sick-bed of the English King and that all Ameri- 
cans, in tendering their hearty sympathy to the people of Great 
Britain will now remember keenly the outburst of genuine 
grief with which all England last fall greeted the calamity 
which befell us in the death of President McKinley." Prayers 
were also offered up for His Majesty in the Senate and 
House of Representatives. Germany was largely silent in its 
press but outspoken and warmly sympathetic in the person of 
its Emperor. Austria was more than friendly and at Rome a 
Resolution passed unanimously through both Houses expres- 
sing earnest wishes for " the prompt recovery of the head of 
the State which has long been Italy's best friend." The French 
press was moderately sympathetic and dwelt upon King 
Edward's love of peace, while the leading Russian newspapers 
paid tribute to the same elements in his character and laid 
stress upon his high qualities as a man and a Sovereign. 

On the Sunday following the serious stage in the King's 
illness the metropolis was the scene of many special services. 
At Marlborough House Chapel, Queen Alexandra, the Prince 
and Princess of Wales and other members of the Royal family 
were present in the morning, together with a crowded gather- 
ing of members of the Court and old friends of His Majesty. 
Bishop Randall Davidson of Winchester preached a sermon 
of eloquent retrospect — a picture of the events of the past few 
days and weeks. Almost from his seat on a great throne their 
Sovereign had passed to a hushed sick-room ; during a crowded 




LIEUTENANT-GENERAL LORD KITCHENER 




QUEEN VICTORIA AND THE PRINCE OF WALES 

Now Edward VII. 



THE ILLNESS OF THE KING 389 

week the people had passed from bouyant expectancy to 
crushing disappointment, from loyal admiration of a splendid 
occasion to personal sympathy with a stricken King. At the 
Chapel Royal the Bishop of London preached and drew a 
lesson of humility from the tragic event, while in St. Paul's 
Cathedral the Bishop of Stepney preached to an audience 
which included various Indian Chiefs and King Lewanika of 
Barotze. Mgr. Merry del Val, the Papal Envoy to the Coro- 
nation, addressed a gathering at the Brompton Oratory attended 
by Sir Wilfrid and Lady Laurier and Mr. Justice Girouard of 
Canada, Sir Nicholas O'Conor, British Ambassador at Con- 
stantinople, Lord Edmund Talbot, Lord Walter Kerr, first 
Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Howard Glossop and Lord 
Clifford of Chudleigh. The Reverend Bernard Vaughan, at 
the Warwick Street Roman Catholic Church, dwelt upon the 
great loyalty of his people to the Throne and declared that 
much might and should be done by Roman Catholics " to 
build up and consolidate an Empire where every man could 
breathe the air of freedom, claim his share of justice and 
practice his religion in peace." 

Amongst the special incidents of the day were prayers for 
King Edward in all the principal towns of Greece as well as 
in the churches of Athens and prayers and sermons upon the 
subject in many of the churches of New York. On July 3rd 
Cape Town was brilliantly illuminated as an expression of 
pleasure at the King's recovery. Four days later the Prince 
and Princess of Wales visited Grey's Hospital and His Royal 
Highness in speaking to the institution, for which the King 
had done so much when Heir Apparent, referred to the occa- 
sion as the first on which he had been able to attempt an 
expression of the unbounded gratitude which they all felt for 
"the merciful recovery of my dear father, the King." He 
spoke of the important work undertaken by the Hospital and 
then proceeded : " I wish to take this first opportunity to say 



39 o THE ILLNESS OF THE KING 

how His Majesty the King, the Queen, and whole of our 
family have been cheered and supported during a time of 
severe trial by the deep sympathy which has been displayed 
towards them from every part of the Empire. And I should 
like to say that we who have watched at the sick bed of the 
King fully realize how much, humanly speaking, is due to the 
eminent surgical and medical skill, as well as to the patient 
and highly-trained nursing which it has been His Majesty's 
good-fortune to enjoy " 



CHAPTER XXIII, 

The Coronation. 

IN the middle of July it was announced that the Royal 
patient had recovered sufficiently to be able to fix a date 
once more for the Coronation ceremony and that, with 
the advice of his physicians, August 9th had been decided 
upon. Many of the events surrounding and connected with the 
central function originally proposed for June 26th had already 
taken place by special wish or consent of the King. Deeply 
regretting the disappointment of his people and keenly 
thoughtful, as he always had been, for the feelings and antici- 
pations of others, His Majesty had specially ordered the 
carrying out of two incidents of the Coronation festivities 
upon the date arranged— the Dinner to the London poor and 
the publication of the Coronation honours. In both cases 
much disappointment would have followed delay though it 
would necessarily have been different in degree and effect. 
On June 26th, as already decided upon and expected, the 
Honour List was made public and the names of those whom 
the King desired to especially compliment were announced. 
The promotion of the Earl of Hopetoun to be Marquess of 
Hopetown, was well deserved by his services as Governor- 
General of Australia and the creation of Lord Milner as a 
Viscount by his work in South Africa. A number might 
almost be called personal honours. Sir Francis Knollys, the 
veteran and efficient Private Secretary became Lord Knollys ; 
Lord Rothschild and Sir Ernest Cassel, old friends of the 
King when Prince of Wales, were made members of the Privy 

391 



392 THE CORONATION 

Council ; Lord Colville of Culross, Chamberlain to the Queen 
Alexandra since 1873, was made a Viscount ; Sir Francis 
Laking and Sir Frederick Treves, the well-known surgeons, 
and Sir Thomas Lipton, the King's yachting companion upon 
more than one occasion, were created baronets ; the Earl of 
Clarendon, Lord Chamberlain to the King, and General the 
Right Hon. Sir Dighton Probyn, so long the faithful official 
of his Household, were given the G. C. B.; Viscount Esher 
was made a K. C. B. General H. R. H. the Duke of Con- 
naught, brother of the King and Commanding the Forces in 
Ireland, was made a Field Marshal, and H. R. H. the Prince 
of Wales, was created a General. 

CORONATION HONOURS AND INCIDENTS 

In the more general list every rank and profession was 
represented — the Army and the Navy in honours conferred 
upon a large number of officers ; Art in the creation of Sir 
Edward Poytner as baronet, and the knighting of Sir F. C. 
Burnand and Sir Ernest Waterlow ; Literature in the knight- 
ing of Sir Conan Doyle, Sir Gilbert Parker and Sir Leslie 
Stephen ; Medicine and Surgery in the same honour conferred 
upon Sir Halliday Croom, Sir Thomas Fraser, Sir H. G. 
Howse and Sir William Church ; Science in the person of Sir 
Arthur Rucker ; Music in that of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford; 
Architecture in that of Sir William Emerson ; the Stage in 
that of Sir Charles Wyndham, The Colonies were amply 
honoured. Australia saw knighthoods bestowed upon Sir E. 
A. Stone, Sir J. L. Stirling, Sir Henry McLaurin, Sir A. J. 
Peacock, Sir Arthur Rutledge, Sir John See, Sir A. Thorpe- 
Douglas, Sir N. E. Lewis. In New Zealand, Captain Sir W. 
Russell-Russell and Sir J. L. Campbell received their knight- 
hoods. Sir John Gordon Sprigg of Cape Colony, received a 
G. C. M. G., as did Sir Edmund Barton of Australia. In Can- 
ada, Sir D. H. McMillan, Sir F. W. Borden and Sir William 



THE CORONATION 393 

Mulock received the K. C. M. G. The King also announced 
the establishment of a new Order of Merit, restricted in num- 
bers and for the purpose of special Royal recognition of 
distinguished and exceptional merit in the Army and Navy serv- 
ices, and in Art, Science and Literature. The first list of 
members included Lord Roberts, Lord Wolseley, Lord Kitch- 
ener, Lord Rayleigh, Lord Lister, Lord Kelvin, Admiral Sir 
Henry Keppel, Mr. John Morley, Mr. W. E. H. Lecky, 
Admiral Sir E. H. Seymour, Sir William Huggins and Mr. 
George Frederick Watts. 

A very important event connected with the Coronation — 
though not exactly a part of it — and which proceeded in spite 
of the King's illness, at his earnest desire, was the Colonial 
Conference composed of General Lord Grenfell, Sir J. W. 
Ridgeway, Sir W. J. Sendall and Sir William McGregor rep- 
resenting the lesser Colonies, Protectorates and Military posts 
and the Premiers of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Natal, 
Cape Colony and Newfoundland. It was called by Mr. 
Chamberlain, largely as a result of so many Colonial leaders 
being in London at this time, and partly because of negotia- 
tions between Australia and Canada looking to a discussion 
during the Coronation period of such questions as trade rela- 
tions between the Commonwealth and the Dominion, the 
establishment of a fast mail service, the organization of a better 
steamship service between Canada and Australia, the estab- 
lishment of a line of steamers from Australia to Canada via 
South Africa, and the position of the Pacific Cable scheme. 
The Conference met a few days after the King's illness was 
announced and proceeded to discuss these and other questions 
in secret session during the next few weeks. 

A great many of the functions surrounding and forming 
part of the Coronation festivities took place during the period 
immediately following the Coronation day, which was to have 
been, and these increased in number and brilliancy as the days 



394 THE CORONATION 

of actual danger passed away. On June 26th it was deter- 
mined not to disappoint the twelve hundred children from 
Orphanages and Homes who had been looking forward for 
many weeks to an entertainment promised them by the Prince 
and Princess of Wales in Marlborough House grounds. They 
were according received on that day. and another twelve hun- 
dred on the succeeding day, and enjoyed their feasts and 
games to the uttermost. On July 1st, amid perfect weather, 
immense and enthusiastic crowds and in the presence of Queen 
Alexandra and the Prince and Princess of Wales, a parade of 
Colonial troops took place at the Horse Guards. The route 
was lined by Regular troops and the Colonial force of about 
two thousand men was headed by General Sir Henry Trotter 
and the Canadian Contingent. The Duke of Connaueht com- 
manded the whole and was supported by a brilliant staff. 

The Queen came first on the review ground accompanied 
by many members of the Royal family, and soon afterwards 
there appeared a glittering cavalcade headed by the Prince of 
Wales in general's uniform. With him were Lord Roberts, 
Commander-in-Chief, the Duke d'Aosta, the Crown Princes 
of Denmark, Greece, Sweden and Roumania, the Grand Duke 
of Hesse, Prince Nicholas and Prince Andrew of Greece, the 
Duke of Saxe-Coburg, Prince Akihitu Komatsu of Japan, 
Prince Christian and Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein and 
two Indian Princes. After the inspection the Prince of Wales 
pesonally conferred the Distinguished Service Order, the Vic- 
toria Cross, the Companionship of the Bath and the Distin- 
guished Conduct Medal upon a number of Colonial officers 
and men who had won them in the South African War. The 
parade followed and men from Canada and Australia, New 
Zealand, Cape Colony and Natal, Ceylon, Cyprus and 
many other parts of the British world filed past the Queen 
and the Heir Apparent — special cheers greeting the gallant 
Sir Edward Brabant of Cape Colony. Well might the Times 



THE CORONATION 395 

in its description express the keen regret of all at the 
absence of the King, and then add : " Perhaps never in the 
whole history of the world has there been such a display of 
Empire power as was witnessed yesterday. Here we had men 
of every colour, creed, denomination and descent, all answering 
to the same word of command, all performing the same 
manoeuvre, all animated with the single object of paying hom- 
age to the head of the greatest Empire the world has ever 
seen." 

Meanwhile, on June 30th, some fifteen hundred Colonial 
officers and men and one thousand Indian troops had embarked 
on special transports to see the great fleet at Spithead and to 
obtain an insight into that mighty naval power of England 
which the Coronation review was to have brought before the 
world once more. In the evening a multitude of bon-fires 
around the Kingdom, intended to celebrate the Coronation, 
were fired to mark the King's having passed the danger-point 
in his illness, and they afforded a most weird and striking 
effect. On the evening of July 1st a number of important 
festivities took place. At the Inner Temple the Colo- 
nial Premiers and distinguished visitors were banquetted. 
Amongst the guests were the Lord Chancellor, Mr. Chamber- 
lain, Lord Cross, Lord Davy, Lord Macnaghten, Lord Lindley, 
Lord Knutsford, Lord Robertson, and Sir Edmund Barton 
of Australia, Sir John Forrest of Australia, Sir Robert Bond 
of Newfoundland, Sir Albert Hime of Natal, Sir West Ridge- 
way, General Sir Francis Grenfell, Sir W. J. Sendall, Sir John 
Carrington, Sir William MacGregor, Sir Julian Salomons, Mr. 
Justice Girouard of Canada, the Hon. Arthur Peters and Hon. 
F. W. G. Haultain. The Premiers of Australia, Newfoundland 
and Natal spoke and paid loyal tributes to the King and the 
Empire. In his speech Mr. Chamberlain referred to Sir 
Albert Hime's statement that the Colonies would be 
glad to join the Councils of the Motherland. " If that be 



396 THE CORONATION 

their feeling, I say — and I know I speak the view of the 
whole of the people of Great Britain — we shall welcome them. 
They have enjoyed all the privileges of the Empire ; if they 
are now willing to take upon themselves their share of its 
responsibilities and its burdens we shall be only too glad of 
their support." The Canadian Dinner, to celebrate Dominion 
Day, was held the same evening ; as was Lady Lansdowne's 
Reception. At the first-mentioned event, the speakers included 
Lord Strathcona, Sir Charles Tupper, the Hon. G. W, Ross, 
the Earl of Dundonald, Sir F. W Borden, the Earl of Minto, 
the Duke of Argyll, Sir W. Mulock and Mr. Seddon. 

ROYAL AND COLONIAL FUNCTIONS 

Lady Lansdowne's function was given in the magnificent 
drawing-rooms of Lansdowne House in honour of the special 
Envoys to the Coronation and the Colonial and Indian guests 
of the King. Nearly all the Colonial Premiers were present 
at some period during the evening and the Crown Princes of 
Roumania, Sweden, Japan and Siam, Mgr. Merry del Val, 
King Lewanika, the Duke and Duchess d'Aosta, the Mahara- 
jahs of Gwalior, Jaipur, Kolapore, Bikanur, and Kuch Behar, 
Sir Pertab Singh, and Mr. and Mrs. Whitelaw Reid. The 
Ambassadors of France, Austria, Turkey, Spain, United 
States, Germany, Persia, Belgium and half the countries in the 
world were also in attendance on what had been originally 
intended to be a reception by the Foreign Secretary and his 
wife in honour of the Coronation. After the Dominion Day 
banquet Lord Strathcona also held a Reception in Piccadilly 
attended by a great gathering of Canadian and other Colonial 
celebrities. 

The Review of the Indian Coronation Contingent on 
July 2nd by the Queen and the Prince of Wales was a bril- 
liant spectacle, the enthusiasm of the reception accorded the 
members of the Royal family as great as on the preceding 



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THE KING AND QUEEN RETURNING FROM WESTMINSTER ABBEY AFTER 
THE CORONATION CEREMONY 

They rode to Buckingham Palace in the state coach, wearing their golden crowns for the first time 

in public. Large concourses of people assembled to witness the spectacle of their monarch, riding 

through the streets of their ca t ital, crowned and in royal robes. 



THE CORONATION 397 

day, the massed crowds even larger than on that occasion, the 
kaleidoscopic colour and glittering splendour of the scene even 
more marked. The ordinary incidents of the parade were 
much the same as in that of the day before but British officers 
from British countries were superseded by a staff of native 
Princes blazing with gems, while the white soldier in ordinary 
British uniform, with only an occasional contingent of Houssas, 
or Fiji troops, or some other dark-coloured Colonial subjects, 
were replaced by an Oriental combination of varied uniform 
and complex colours. They numbered twelve hundred strong 
and the Eastern side of the display was one which the stricken 
King — deeply sensitive to the Imperial significance of the 
Coronation as he was — would have greatly appreciated and 
understood. The Times description was an eloquent one : 
" To those sitting in the stands it appeared as if a great rich 
ornamental carpet of kaleidoscopic colour had been suddenly 
unrolled across the gravel of the parade-ground ; a line of 
dazzling tints, before which the impressive grandeur of 
Household uniforms with attendant cuirasses, bear-skins, scar- 
let and bullion, dwarfed into insignificance. The front of the 
Asiatic line was crested with fluttering lance pennons, and be- 
neath these flags were stalwart frames in vermillion, rich 
orange, purple-drab, French-grey, and gold-tipped navy-blue, 
dressed shoulder to shoulder, making a nether border of snow- 
white or orange breeching." 

One after another the representatives of famous Indian 
regiments passed by and no Roman Emperor, or conqueror of 
old, ever had such a triumphal gathering in victorious pro- 
cession through his ancient capital as this which passed 
the windows of the room where the Emperor-King lay slowly 
verging toward recovery. Finally, they had all passed — 
Rajpoot, Sikh, Pathan, Afridi, Jat, Hazura, Gurkha, Dogra, 
Multani, Madrassee, Baluchi, Dekani — and, after a great 
cheer for the Emperor of India and to the strains of the 



39 8 THE CORONATION 

National Anthem and personal cheering of another kind, the 
Queen and Princess of Wales drove from the grounds fol- 
lowed by the Prince and the rest of the Royal family. 

In the evening a ball was held at the Crystal Palace, the 
proceeds of which were to go to King Edward's Hospital 
Fund, as a sort of Coronation tribute to His Majesty's well- 
known interest in this subject. The function, which had been 
managed by Mrs. Arthur Paget, Lady Maud Wilbraham and 
others was a great success. During the same day Mr. 
W. H. Grenfell M. P. entertained the Colonial Premiers and 
visitors, on behalf of the British Empire League, at a water- 
party on the Thames and a luncheon at Taplow Court. The 
King's Dinner to the poor people of London took place on 
July 5th and constituted probably the most remarkable event 
of the kind in all history. A statistician estimated that six 
hundred thousand persons sat down at ninety miles of tables 
served by eighty thousand voluntary waiters. The cost of the 
occasion was about ,£30,000 and how the guests enjoyed their 
substantial meal of meat, potatoes, bread, cheese, pudding, 
beer, lime-juice, chocolate, cigarettes and tobacco can be bet- 
ter imagined than stated. There were eight hundred separate 
feasts and eighteen thousand people entertaining the guests 
while thirteen members of the Royal family devoted them- 
selves to representing the King and giving the pleasure of 
their presence to the crowded and happy multitudes. 

The day was beautiful, the arrangements, which had been 
so largely in the hands of Sir Thomas Lipton, were excellent, 
and the assistance abundant. The Coronation mugs gave 
tremendous pleasure and it would be a problem in psychology 
to say why the mere sight of Royalty should give the intense 
satisfaction which it unquestionably afforded the crowds — 
especially the women. Decorations were everywhere and the 
Prince and Princess of Wales drove in semi-state all through 
East London. The final climax to the day was the physicians' 



THE CORONATION 399 

announcement from the Palace that the King was out of dan- 
ger. Princess Christian, the Duke and Duchess of Con- 
naught, the Duke and Duchess of Fife, the Prince and Princess 
Charles of Denmark, the Duchess of Albany, the Duke and 
Duchess of Argyll did more than their duty in visiting the 
various points and giving the feasters a glimpse of those who 
represented, even indirectly, their Royal host. On the follow- 
ing day Lord Knollys wrote the Lord Mayor, by command of 
the King, expressing the greatest satisfaction at the success of 
the affair and at the energy, foresight and skill displayed by 
those who had taken it in hand. " I am further commanded", 
he wrote, "to repeat how sincerely His Majesty regretted his 
inability to be present at any of his dinners and how deeply 
also he has been touched by the loyal and kind feeling so 
universally displayed when the bulletin of yesterday morning 
was read at the various dining-places." 

On the following day and at various times and places in 
the succeeding weeks the Queen entertained thousands of 
young servants at tea. Mayors and other officials or promi- 
nent persons presided, and each guest, after listening to a 
musical programme, was sent away happy with a box of choco- 
late bearing Queen Alexandra's portrait in colours. A func- 
tion of a different character was the great state dinner given 
by the Prince and Princess of Wales at St. James's Palace on 
July 8th in honour of the Colonial guests and visitors. The 
leading members of the suite during the late Empire tour were 
present together with the Countess of Hopetoun, the Earl 
and Countess of Onslow, the Earl and Countess of Minto, the 
Lord and Lady Lamington, the Lord and Lady Strathcona, 
Mrs. Chamberlain, Sir Wilfrid and Lady Laurier, Sir Edmund 
and Lady Barton, Mr. Seddon, Sir Gordon and Miss Sprigg, 
Sir Albert and Miss Hime, Sir R. Bond, Sir John and Lady 
Forrest, General Sir Edward Brabant, Sir W.* Mulock, the 
Hon. Mr, Fielding and Hon. Mr. Paterson. During this week 



4 oo THE CORONATION 

the Countess of Jersey gave three garden parties at Osterley 
Park in honour of the visitors, and Lady Howard de Walden 
entertained the Colonial and Indian dignitaries at a reception 
and concert on July 7th. Three days later the Queen opened 
the Imperial Coronation Bazaar which was held on behalf of 
the Ormonde St. Hospital for Sick Children. Her Majesty 
was accompanied by Princess Victoria, the Duke and Duchess 
of Connaught, the Princess Christian and other members of 
the Royal family, and the occasion was successful despite a 
storm of wind and rain. In the evening the Prince and Prin- 
cess of Wales held a Reception of some nine hundred more or 
less distinguished people at St. James's Palace in honour of 
the Colonial visitors. Most of the members of the Royal 
family were present as well as Royal representatives of Rou- 
mania, Denmark, Greece and Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and the 
Colonial Premiers and other officials or visitors from the out- 
side Empire. It was a really brilliant function, delightful in 
its surroundings, decorations and illuminations, and elaborate 
in its final incident of supper. On the preceding day a detach- 
ment of troops from Australia and New Zealand, under 
arrangements made by Lord Carrington and the Duke of 
Argyll, visited Windsor Castle and were given luncheon in the 
town with the former nobleman as host. About the same time 
twelve thousand Kensington school-children were entertained 
under the auspices of Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, and 
revelled in a pleasure such as had perhaps never come before 
to the most of them. 

There were various functions and incidents of interest in 
the second week following the postponed Coronation. One of 
the most picturesque scenes ever witnessed in London occurred 
on July 3rd, when the Fijian soldiers, who had come to the 
Empire capital for the great event, were being driven around 
the city. On reaching Buckingham Palace they expressed a 
wish to sing an intercessory hymn for the King. With their 



THE CORONATION 401 

bare heads, legs and feet, their long and frizzy hair, their 
white cotton skirts and quaint tunics, they made a most 
unique appearance as they turned toward the Palace and 
chanted words of which the following is a rough translation : 

" The King is great, and noble, and good. 

May he find favour in the sight of the Ruler of Kings ; 

May he wax strong and stay the tears of us all, for his people are sad. 

Mighty is the King and his people shall be glad." 

Other parties of West African and Indian troops were driven 
up and cheered the bare walls of the Palace with fervour. The 
Duke of Con naught, and afterwards the Duke of Cambridge, 
visited the Indian troops at Hampton Court. On July 9th, 
Colonel Lord Binning and the officers and men of the Royal 
Horse Guards provided an entertainment for the Colonial 
contingents at the Albany Barracks. Entertainments for the 
Colonial Premiers were almost continuous. The Duke and 
Duchess of Westminster gave an afternoon party in their 
honour at Grosvenor House ; Lady Lucy Hicks-Beach gave a 
garden party at the official residence of the Chancellor of the 
Exchequer; parties of the King's Indian guests were taken at 
different times by Lord Esher and Lord Churchill to see 
Windsor Castle ; Sir Gilbert Parker gave a dinner in honour 
of the Premiers of Australia and Canada ; Lady Wimborne 
gave a dinner and reception for the Colonial Premiers ; the 
Constitutional Club on July 7th entertained the guests from 
the Colonies at a banquet presided over by the Duke of Marl- 
borough. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, in the course of his speech, 
made a notable declaration : " The bond of the British Empire, 
let me tell you this my fellow-countrymen, and accept it from 
a man not of your own race, the bond of union of the British 
Empire is allegiance to the King without distinction of race or 
colour." The Primrose League in London entertained the 
26 



402 THE CORONATION 

visiting Premiers at a banquet ; and the Fishmonger's Com- 
pany did the same. An interesting incident was the visit of 
Mr. R. J. Seddon, Premier of New Zealand, and his wife and 
daughters to Windsor Castle whence, on July 3rd, they were 
driven to Frogmore Mausoleum and placed a wreath of lilies 
and rosebuds on the tomb of the Queen and on behalf of the 
people of New Zealand. 

The Empire Coronation banquet was the great event of 
these weeks in the way of dining and speaking, although Mr. 
Chamberlain's unfortunate accident and absence created a 
serious void. The Earl of Onslow presided, and amongst the 
speakers were Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Maharajah of Kolapore, 
Sir Gordon Sprigg and Sir Edmund Barton. Earl Cromer 
and Lord Lansdowne, Lord Minto, Lord Kelvin and the 
Maharajahs of Bikanur and Cooch-Behar were also present 
together with a distinguished array of Colonial dignitaries. 

An event of historic importance occurred on July nth 
when the Marquess of Salisbury waited upon the King and 
tendered his resignation of the post of Prime Minister. The 
fact that His Majesty was able to receive him and deal with 
the questions involved also served to indicate his progress 
toward recovery. Mr. A. J. Balfour was at once sent for and, 
after an interview with Mr. Chamberlain, accepted the task of 
forming a new Ministry. It had been pretty well understood 
that Lord Salisbury intended to resign when peace had come 
and the Coronation ceremonies were disposed of. Delay had 
naturally occurred owing to the King's illness, but His Majesty's 
progress toward recovery and the fact of the principal Coro- 
nation functions having been disposed of — outside of the event 
itself — induced the Premier to feel that he could now lay down 
his burdensome position. Mr. Balfour was received again by 
the King on July 12th and a little later in the day General 
Lord Kitchener, after passing in triumphal procession through 
the streets of London on his return from South Africa, was also 



THE CORONATION 403 

admitted into audience by the King and personally decorated 
from his couch with the special Coronation honour — the new 
Order of Merit. Lord Kitchener then dined with the Prince 
of Wales, as representing His Majesty, at St. James's Palace. 

Meanwhile, the King had been winning golden opinions 
from all sorts and conditions of men. His plucky conduct at 
the beginning of the illness, his thoughtful consideration for 
others through every stage of its continuance, his evidently 
strong place in the hearts of his subjects, combined to increase 
the personal popularity of the Sovereign at home while enhanc- 
ing or promoting respect for him abroad. As the New York 
Tribune put it on the day before the Coronation : "The King 
is showing himself ' every inch a King ' in some of those respects 
which are most prized and cherished by all men of his race, and 
which unfailingly command admiration among all men and all 
races. Those are the qualities of unselfishness, and indomita- 
ble and uncomplaining pluck." He had struggled long and 
earnestly against the malady — not for his own sake, because 
safety and ease would have early been found in surrender to its 
natural course. When that became finally necessary, and recov- 
ery then succeeded the period of suspense,his whole desire seemed 
to be the re-assuring of the popular mind and the relieving of 
public inconvenience. On August 6th the King and Queen 
Alexandra had landed at Portsmouth from the Royal yacht 
and proceeded to London. The stations were profusely deco- 
rated, and dense crowds were awaiting their arrival in the 
capital. At the Metropolitan station the King walked easily 
to the end of the platform and to his carriage, helped the 
Queen to enter, and followed himself without any apparent 
difficulty. The route to Buckingham Palace was lined with 
great throngs of people, and His Majesty acknowledged the 
continuous cheering with a most cheerful expression and by 
frequently raising his hat. He was described as looking 
better than for a long time' past — while the Queen appeared 



4 o 4 THE CORONATION 

positively radiant. On the evening of August 8th, the King 
issued an autograph message of thanks and appreciation to the 
nation, through the Home Secretary, couched in the following 
terms : 

" To My People : — On the eve of my Coronation, an event which 
I look upon as one of the most solemn and most important in my life, I • 
am anxious to express to my people at home and in the Colonies and India, 
my heartfelt appreciation of the deep sympathy they have manifested 
towards me during the time my life was in such imminent danger. 

" The postponement of the ceremony, owing to my illness, caused, I 
fear, much inconvenience and trouble to all those who intended to cele- 
brate it, but their disappointment was borne by them with admirable 
patience and temper. 

" The prayers of my people for my recovery were heard, and I now 
offer up my deepest gratitude to Divine Providence for having preserved 
my life and given me strength to fulfil the important duties which devolve 
upon me as Sovereign of this great Empire. 

EDWARD R.I." 

While this tactful and sympathetic letter was being writ- 
ten by the Sovereign, his people in London were preparing 
for the o-reat event of the morrow. The streets were crowded 
with moving masses of people; the decorations, though not as 
numerous or imposing as in June, were nevertheless effective ; 
the streets were illuminated to a considerable extent, and the 
stands were nearly all sold out of their seating capacity. Dur- 
ino- the afternoon the King walked in the grounds of Bucking- 
ham Palace and held an Investiture, at which he gave the 
Order of the Garter to the Dukes of Wellington and Suther- 
land and of the Thistle to the Duke of Roxburghe and the Earl 
of Haddington. A little later, he received in audience Ras 
MaRonnen,the Abyssinian Envoy. Two interesting announce- 
ments were also made at this time — that Lord Salisbury was 
unwell and would be unable to attend the Coronation, and 
that Bramwell Booth had been granted special permission by 
the King to appear at Westminster Abbey in Salvation Army 




EDWARD VII AND HIS QUEEN ALEXANDRA CROWNED 

On August g, 1902, amid all the pomp and solemnity of the occasion the sovereign of the British Empire 
and his beloved consort received the joyful homage of their subjects. 




THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY PAYS HOMAGE TO HIS SOVEREIGN 

When the primate came to do homage to Edward VII and was about to exhort the king to "stand firm 

and hold fast," he was quite overcome, and His Majesty to prevent his falling, stretched 

forth his hana *o assist him. 



THE CORONATION 405 

garb. The first incident marked the closing of an era of state- 
craft ; of an age marked by the name and fame of Queen 
Victoria and her Ministers. The other illustrated the tact of 
the Sovereign as it proved the existence of a religious tolera- 
tion and equality characteristic of the new period in which the 
new reign was commencing. 

On August 9th the great ceremony finally took place. 
Though shorn of some of the I nternational splendour of the first 
arrangements and without some of the military and naval 
glory which would have then surrounded the event its Imperial 
significance was in some respects enhanced and there was a 
deeper note in the festivities and an even more enthusiastic 
tone in the cheering than would have been possible on the 
26th of June. The solemn ceremony in the ancient Abbey — 
which had not been used or opened to the public since that 
final practice of the choir — was brilliant in all the colours 
and shadings and dresses and gems and uniforms of a Royal 
function while it presented that other and more sacred side 
which all the traditions and forms of the Coronation ceremony 
so clearly illustrate. The enthusiasm of the people in the 
streets can hardly be described but the spirit and thought 
and feeling were well summed up in the words of a Canadian 
poet — Jean Blewett : 

11 L,ong live the King ! 
Long live the King who hath for his own 
The strongest sceptre the world has known, 
The richest Crown and the highest Throne, 
The staunchest hearts, and the heritage 
Of a glorious past, whose every page 
Reads — loyalty, greatness, valour, might." 

The day opened with brilliant promise and bright sun- 
shine, but became overcast and gloomy by the time the Royal 
progress from the Palace had commenced. The crowds gath- 
ered early, and soon every seat in the many stands were filled 



4 o6 THE CORONATION 

with expectant and interested people who numbered in the 
end fully half a million. Picked troops, chiefly Household 
Cavalry and Colonial and Indian soldiers of the King, to the 
number of 30,000, guarded the route, with a picturesque line 
of white, black, brown and yellow men of many countries and 
varied uniforms. When the King and Queen appeared in 
their o-orcreous state coach from out the gates of Buckingham 
Palace they were greeted with tremendous cheers from the 
multitude, and these cheers continued all along the way to the 
Abbey. In the Royal procession were the Prince and Prin- 
cess of Wales with thirty-one other members of the Royal 
family. The Princess was beautiful in a long Court mantle of 
purple velvet trimmed with bands of gold and a minever cape 
fastened with hooks of gold over a dress of white satin 
embroidered in gold and jewelled with diamonds and pearls. 
Then followed Lord Knollys and Lord Wolseley and Admiral 
Seymour, Lord Kitchener and General Gaselee and Lord 
Roberts, with many other notabilities. The Indian Mahara- 
jahs, who acted as Aides-de-Camp to the King, were brilliant 
in red and white and brown and blue and gold and jewels. 
Immediately in front of the King was the Royal escort of 
Princes and Equerries with a body of Colonial and Indian 
troops. The arrival at the Abbey was marked by great 
enthusiasm in the massed multitudes surrounding the famous 
buildino- and seated in the crimson-covered stands which had 
been built on every side. 

The scene in the interior was indescribable. The blend 
of many colours in costume mixed with the time-mellowed 
harmonies of shade and substance in the mighty structure, 
while the air was permeated with the solemn sounds of the 
recently sung Litany and the slowly pealing bells of loyal 
welcome. Around were the greatest men and noblest and 
most beautiful women of Great Britain, and in the stalls was 
a veritable roll-call of fame in a world-wide Empire. Lord 



THE CORONATION 407 

Salisbury was practically the only British personage of historic 
repute who was not present while the veteran Duke of Cam- 
bridge appeared as one of the two living links present 
between the Coronation which had marked the beginning of 
the Victorian era and that which was now to illustrate the birth 
of a new period. Into this scene of splendour and revel of 
colour came the King and the state officials of his realm. 

The procession as it passed from the west door of the 
Abbey through the standing and brilliantly-garbed gathering 
was one of the most stately spectacles recorded in history. 
First came the Clergy of the Abbey in copes of brown shot 
with gold, the Archbishops in purple velvet and gold, the 
gorgeously-clad officers of the Orders of Knighthood, and the 
Heralds. Then came the Standard of Ireland, carried by the 
Right Hon. O'Conor Don, the Standard of Scotland by Mr. 
H. S. Wedderburn, the Standard of England by Mr. F. S. 
Dymoke and the Union Standard borne by the Duke of Wel- 
lington. Various great officials and nobles followed, the coro- 
net of each borne by a beautifully dressed page. They included 
the Lord Privy Seal, the Lord President of the Council the Lord 
Chancellor of Ireland, the Lord Archbishop of York, the Lord 
High Chancellor, the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. Then 
came the Earl of Gosford as Lord Chamberlain, Lord Harris 
carrying the Queen's regalia and the Duke of Roxburghe car- 
rying Her Majesty's Crown. The Queen herself followed in 
robes of exquisite character and splendour and looking as only 
the most beautiful woman in England could look. On either 
side of her were the Bishops of Oxford and Norwich with five 
gentlemen-at-arms to the right and left of them and Her 
Majesty's train was borne by the Duchess of Buccleuch 
assisted by eight youthful personages of title or heirship to 
aristocratic position. The Ladies of the Bedchamber followed 
and then came the King's regalia, carried by the Earl of Car- 
rington, the Duke of Argyll, the Earl of Loudoun, Lord Grey 



408 THE CORONATION 

de Ruthven, Viscount Wolseley, the Duke of Grafton and 
Earl Roberts. 

The next personage in this splendid procession of rich- 
robed noblemen and gorgeously-clad officials was the Lord 
Mayor of London and then came the Marquess of Chol- 
mondeley, as Lord Great Chamberlain, the Duke of Abercorn 
as High Constable of Ireland, the Earl of Erroll as High Con- 
stable of Scotland, the Earl of Shrewsbury as Lord High 
Steward of Ireland, the Earl of Crawford as Lord High 
Steward of Scotland (Deputy to the Duke of Rothesay and 
Prince of Wales), the Duke of Norfolk as Earl Marshal of 
England, the Marquess of Londonderry carrying the Sword of 
State, and the Duke of Fife as Lord High Constable of Eng- 
land. Following these high officers of state came central 
figures in the procession — the Duke of Marlborough as Lord 
High Steward carrying St. Edward's ancient Crown, the Earl 
of Lucan carrying the Sceptre, and the Duke of Somerset bear- 
ing the Orb. The Bishop of Ely followed bearing the Patina, 
the Bishop of Winchester bearing the Chalice, the Bishop of 
London carrying the Bible and then, behind him came the 
Sovereign of the mighty little Islands and of an Empire gird- 
ling the world in power and wealth and service to civilization 

His Majesty was clad in Royal crimson robes of state and 
wore the Order of the Garter. His train was borne by the 
Earl of Portarlington, the Duke of Leinster, the Marquess Con- 
yngham, the Earl of Caledon and Lord Somers, with Viscount 
Torrington and Hon. P. A. Spencer, as Pages of Honour 
and Lord Suffield, Master of the Robes. On either side of the 
King walked the Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Bishop of 
Durham and beside them again ten gentlemen-at-arms. Fol- 
lowing the bearers of the Royal train came Admiral Sir 
Michael Culme-Seymour, the Duke of Portland, General Lord 
Chelmsford, the Duke of Buccleuch, Earl Waldgrave, Lord 



THE CORONATION 409 

Belper, various Lords-in-Waiting, Lord Knollys, Sir D. M. 
Probyn and Major-General Sir Arthur Ellis. 

The services and ceremonies in the Abbey were beautiful 
and impressive in the extreme. Enriched with a thousand 
years' traditions, moulded upon ancient forms of a sacred and 
essentially religious character, symbolizing and expressing a 
solemn compact between the Sovereign and his subjects, 
registering by forms of popular acceptance, homage and 
ecclesiastical ritual the final consecration of the King to the 
government of his nation, it was a ceremony of exceeding 
solemnity as well as of impressive splendour. The great 
Abbey had been transformed by tier above tier of seats, cov- 
ered with blue and yellow velvet, and so arranged as to form 
one dazzling mass of brightness and colour when filled with the 
peers in their gorgeous robes and peeresses in their crimson 
velvet mantles, ermine capes and beautiful gowns. As the 
King and Queen entered the Abbey on this eventful day and 
moved toward their chairs the choir of trained voices sang with 
exquisite feeling and sound the anthem : " I was glad when 
they said unto me, we will go into the house of the Lord." 
The King at different times during the ceremonies was clad in 
vestments combining an ecclessiastical character with Royal 
magnificence. The dalmatic was a robe of cloth of gold, the 
stole was lined with crimson cloth and richly embroidered, the 
alb, or sleeveless tunic of fine cambric, was trimmed with 
beautiful lace. The whole effect was one of harmonized 
colour and splendour. 

After brief prayer, kneeling on faldstools in front of 
their chairs, the King and Queen took their seats and then the 
Archbishop of Canterbury turned north, south, east and west 
and, while the King stood, he said to the people : " Sirs, I 
here present unto you King Edward, the undoubted King of 
this Realm ; wherefore all you who have come this day to do 
your homage, are you willing to do the same?" Ringing 



410 THE CORONATION 

acclamations of " God save the King," to the sound of trumpets 
strongly blown, greeted this part of the ceremony. The Bible, 
Patina, Chalice and Regalia were then borne to the Altar, and 
the Communion service of the Church of England proceeded 
with. Then followed the taking of the Coronation Oath, the 
Archbishop of Canterbury first asking His Majesty if he was 
willing to do so and receiving an affirmative reply. The 
questions and answers were as follows, the King holding a 
Bible in his hands : 

Archbishop . Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the 
people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the 
Dominions thereto belonging, according to the statutes in Parliament 
agreed on and the respective laws and customs of the same? 

The King. I solemnly promise to do so. 

Archbishop . Will you to your power cause law and justice, in mercy, 
to be executed in all your judgments ? 

The King. I will. 

Archbishop . Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the laws 
of God, the true profession of the Gospel, and the Protestant Reformed 
religion established by law ? And will you maintain and preserve inviol- 
ably the Settlement of the Church of England and the doctrine, worship, 
discipline and government thereof as by law established in England ? And 
will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England and to the 
Church therein committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges 
as by law do, or shall appertain to them or any of them ? 

The King. All this I promise to do. 

His Majesty, when he had said these words passed to the 
Altar, knelt down and with his hand on the Bible said: " The 
things which I have here before promised I will perform and 
keep. So help me God." After signing the Oath the King 
returned to his chair. A hymn, a prayer by the Archbishop 
and an anthem followed. Meanwhile His Majesty, after being 
relieved of his crimson robes by the Lord Great Chamberlain 
and of his cap of state, proceeded to King Edward's Chair, 
near the Altar and, and while four Knights of the Garter in 



THE CORONATION 4 n 

their magnificent robes and insignia — the Earl of Rosebery 
Earl of Derby, Earl of Cadogan and Earl Spencer — held over 
him a Pall of golden Silk, the Archbishop, assisted by the Dean 
of Westminster, annointed him with holy oil on the crown of 
the head, on his breast and on his hands. His Grace of Canter- 
bury concluded this part of the ceremony with the words : " And 
as Solomon was anointed King by Zadok the Priest and Nathan 
the Prophet, so be you anointed, blessed and consecrated 
King over this People whom the Lord your God hath given 
you to rule and govern. In the name of the Father, and the 
Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen." The King, after a brief 
prayer by the Archbishop then resumed his place in King 
Edward's Chair and was robed by the Dean of Westminster 
with cloth of gold and symbolic girdle. 

INCIDENTS OF THE CEREMONY 

Various typical or symbolic functions were then performed. 
The Lord Great Chamberlain touched the King's feet with a 
pair of golden spurs as constituting the ancient emblems of 
Knighthood ; a Sword of State, with scabbard of purple vel- 
vet, was then handed with elaborate ceremony to the Arch- 
bishop who, after placing it upon the Altar and delivering a 
short prayer proffered it to His Majesty about whom it was 
girt by the Lord Great Chamberlain, His Grace of Canter- 
bury giving the following injunction : " With this sword do 
justice, stop the growth of iniquity, protect the Holy Church 
of God, help and defend widows and orphans, restore the 
things that are going to decay, maintain the things that are 
restored, furnish and reform what is amiss and confirm what 
is in good order ; that by doing these things you may be 
glorious in all virtue ; and so faithfully serve our Lord Jesus 
Christ in this life that you may reign for ever with him in the 
life that is to come." The King then placed the Sword upon 
the Altar from which it was presently taken and held drawn 



412 



THE CORONATION 



from the scabbard before him during the rest of the ceremony. 
The Dean of Westminster then invested His Majesty with the 
Armilla, or gold bracelets, and with the Imperial mantle of 
cloth of gold, while the Archbishop presented the Orb of 
Empire — a golden ball, made originally for Charles II. with a 
band covered with gems and a cross set in brilliants. As he 
did so His Grace said : " Receive this Imperial Robe and Orb; 
and the Lord your God endow you with knowledge and wis- 
dom, with majesty and with power from on high ; the Lord 
clothe you with the robe of righteousness and with the gar- 
ments of salvation." 

The next incident was the placing of a gold ring — carried 
off by James II. in his flight, and afterwards recovered in Rome 
by George IV. — upon the fourth finger of the King's right 
hand with an Episcopal injunction to receive the ring as 
"the ensign of kingly dignity and of defence of the Catholic 
faith." Then came the presentation of the Sceptre by the 
Archbishop as the ensign of kingly power and justice, and the 
rod of equity and mercy, while the Duke of Newcastle as 
Hereditary Lord of the Manor of Worksop, had the privilege 
or right of placing a glove upon the King's hand. Following 
this came the central and most dramatic feature of the cere- 
monies — the placing of the Crown upon His Majesty's head 
by the Archbishop of Canterbury. As the action was per- 
formed the venerable Abbey shook with the acclamation of 
" God Save the King " while the trumpets blared and the 
scene, already brilliant with varied splendours, flashed in added 
beauty when the Peers and Peeresses put on their glittering 
coronets. A brief prayer and the presentation of a copy of the 
Bible by the Archbishop followed with a benediction ending 
in the words: "The Lord give you a fruitful country and 
healthful seasons ; victorious fleets and armies and a quiet Em- 
pire ; a faithful Senate, wise and upright Counsellors and magis- 
trates, a loyal nobility and dutiful gentry ; a pious and learned 




':'"'■.•:■ 








i^k 






«"''psp«^; 








THE CORONATION 413 

and useful Clergy ; an honest, industrious and obedient com- 
munity." 

After the Te Deum was sung by the choir, His Majesty 
for the first time took his place upon the Throne surrounded 
by the leading officials, nobles and clergy, and listened to a 
brief exordium from the Archbishop, ending with the hope 
that God would "establish your Throne in righteousness that 
it may stand fast for evermore." Then came the impressive 
ceremony of Homage. First the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
kneeling in front of His Majesty with all the Bishops in their 
places, repeated an oath of allegiance. Then the Prince of 
Wales, taking off his coronet, knelt in front of the King and 
the other Princes of the blood royal knelt in their places and 
repeated the quaint mediaeval formula in which they swore 
" to become your liege man of life and limb and of earthly 
worship, and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and 
die against all manner of Folks." At this point occurred 
an abreviation of the ceremony as well as an impromptu change 
in the proceedings. As the Prince rose from his knees touched 
the Crown on his father's head and kissed his left cheek in the 
the formal manner prescribed, the King rose, threw his arms 
round his son's neck for a moment and then took his hand and 
shook it warmly. After the homage of the Heir Apparent 
each Peer of the realm should have followed the traditionary 
form in the order of his rank and touched the Crown and kissed 
the King's cheek. This was modified, however, so as to enable 
each grade of the nobility to perform the function through 
its representative of oldest patent — the Duke of Norfolk, the 
Marquess of Winchester, the Earl of Shrewsbury, the Viscount 
Hereford and the Baron de Ros. After this had been done 
the trumpets once more sounded their acclaims and the audi- 
ence joined in shouting "God save King Edward." 

A short but stately ceremony of crowning the Queen 
then followed. The Archbishop of York officiated and four 



4 i 4 THE CORONATION 

Peeresses upheld the Cloth of Gold over Her Majesty as she 
was anointed upon the head. A ring was placed upon her 
finger with a brief prayer, and a sceptre in her hand with the 
following words : " Grant unto this thy servant Alexandra, our 
Queen, that by the powerful and mild influence of her piety 
and virtue, she may adorn the high dignity which she hath 
obtained, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Her Majesty was 
then escorted from the Altar to her own Throne, bowing rever- 
ently to the King as she passed him to take her place. 

The King and Queen then passed to the Altar together, 
taking off their Crowns and kneeling on faldstools and His 
Majesty formally offered the Sacrament of Communion to 
the Archbishop. After thus indicating his headship of the 
National Church, the King returned with his Consort to their 
chairs and listened to some brief prayers. Thence they 
returned to the Altar, received Communion from the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury and then passed into the Chapel of 
Edward the Confessor accompanied by a stately procession. 
There they were arrayed in Royal robes of purple and velvet, 
in place of the mantels previously worn, and passed with 
slow and stately dignity down the nave, out to their carriage 
and thence through masses of cheering people to Buckingham 
Palace. 

There were several incidents in connection with the Coro- 
nation ceremonies which deeply impressed the onlookers. One 
was the spontaneous and obvious sincerity of the King's 
affectionate greeting to his son. Another was the enfeebled 
condition of the aged Archbishop of Canterbury. With his 
massive frame, brilliant intellect, and piercing eyes Dr. 
Temple had lived a life of intense mental activity and reli- 
gious zeal, but in these declining days the massive form had 
become bent and trembling, the memory and the eyes found 
difficulties in the solemn words of the service, and his shaking 
hands could hardly place the Crown upon the head of his 



THE CORONATION 415 

King. But the latter's solicitude and anxious care to save the 
Primate any exertion, not absolutely essential, were marked 
and noticed by all that vast assemblage. The Royal patient 
was transformed, by kindly sympathy, into a guardian of the 
Archbishop's weakness. When tendering his homage as first 
of all the subjects of the King, the aged Primate almost fainted 
and was unable to rise from his knees until His Majesty assisted 
him. Prior to the actual Coronation, Mr. Edwin A. Abbey, 
R.A,, who had been commissioned by the King to paint a pic- 
ture of the historic scene, was allowed to take note of the 
surroundings. Another incident of the event was the presence 
of the Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz — placed by desire of 
Queen Alexandra in a seat at the exact spot which she had 
held during the Coronation of Queen Victoria. 

On the day following the great event a final bulletin was 
issued by Sir F. Laking and Sir F. Treves, which stated that 
" His Majesty bore the strain of the Coronation ceremony 
perfectly well, and experienced but little fatigue. The King 
has had a good night, and his condition is in every way satis- 
factory." Being Sunday, special services were held in the St. 
James's Chapel Royal, at St. Paul's Cathedral, in Marlborough 
House Chapel, and at St. Margaret's, Westminster. On Mon- 
day, a Royal message to the nation was made public through 
Mr. Balfour, the Prime Minister. Dated on Coronation Day, 
it described the Osborne House estate, on the Isle of Wight, 
as being the private property of the Sovereign, and expressed 
his wish to establish this once favourite residence of the late 
Queen as a National Convalescent Home for Officers of the 
Army and Navy — maintaining intact, however, the rooms 
which were in her late Majesty's personal occupation. " Hav- 
ing to spend a considerable part of the year in the capital of 
this Kingdom and in its neighbourhood, at Windsor, and hav- 
ing also strong home ties in the County of Norfolk, which 
have existed now for nearly forty years, the King feels he will 



4 i6 THE CORONATION 

be unable to make adequate use of Osborne House as a Royal 
residence, and he accordingly has determined to offer the 
property in the Isle of Wight as a gift to the nation." Follow- 
ing the Coronation came multitudes of editorial comments 
upon the event, and one of the most concise and expressive was 
that of the London Times : "The significance of the Corona- 
tion ceremony on Saturday lay in its profound sincerity, as a 
solemn compact between the Sovereign and his subjects, rati- 
fied by oath, and blessed by the highest dignitaries of the 
National Church. It was a covenant between a free people, 
accustomed for long centuries to be governed according to 
statutes in Parliament agreed on, and their hereditary King, 
and a supplication from both to God that the King may be 
endowed with all princely virtues in the exercise of his great 
office. Though the details of the ceremony do not mean to 
us all they meant to our forefathers, the ceremony itself is a 
no less strong and enduring bond between the King and sub- 
jects. The most striking feature of the Coronation was that 
it was the first to be attended by the statesmen of self-govern- 
ing Colonies, and by the feudatory Princes of India." 

With the event also came an Ode from Mr. Alfred Aus- 
tin, entitled " The Crowning of Kingship." On August nth 
the King held a Council at Buckingham Palace, attended by 
the retiring and new members of the Cabinet ; invested many 
distinguished personages with their Coronation honours ; and 
gave an audience to Sir Joseph Dimsdale, Lord Mayor of 
London, who presented the City's Coronation gift of $575,000 
toward the King Edward Hospital Fund, in which His 
Majesty had so long taken so deep an interest and to which, 
on this occasion, there was contributed 20,000 penny donations 
from the poorest quarters of London. 

Various functions of a Coronation character or connec- 
tion ensued. On August 12th some 2000 Colonial troops 
who were present at the event, in a representative capacity, 



THE CORONATION 417 

from British dominions beyond the seas, were received by the 
King on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. Under the 
Royal canopy were the Queen and the children of the Prince 
of Wales, and in attendance were Earl Roberts, Lord Kitch- 
ener, Mr. Chamberlain and various Colonial Premiers, includ- 
ing Sir Wilfrid and Lady Laurier. After the march past, the 
King pinned a Victoria Cross on the breast of Sergeant Law- 
rence, and the Prince of Wales conferred Cornonation medals 
upon the officers and men. His Majesty then addressed the 
troops as follows: " It has afforded me great pleasure to see 
you here to-day and to have the opportunity of expressing my 
high appreciation of your patriotism and the way you distin- 
guished yourselves in South Africa. The services you have 
rendered the Mother-Country will never be forgotten by me, 
and they will, I am sure, cement more firmly than ever the 
union of our distant Colonies with the other parts of my great 
Empire." 

On the following day the Indian troops sent from the 
great Eastern realm to honour the Coronation of its Emperor 
were reviewed at the same place. His Majesty wore a jew- 
elled sword which cost some $50,000, and had been presented 
to him on the previous day by the Maharajah of Jaipur. The 
scene was a most brilliant and picturesque one. The British 
notables present wore military or Levee dress ; the great 
lawn of the Palace was a splendid spectacle in red, yellow, 
green and blue ; the Eastern Princes were gorgeous in jewels 
and many-coloured raiment, and the little Princes Edward and 
Albert of Wales constituted themselves Aides of the King and 
brought several general officers up to have an audience. After 
the march past and the distribution of medals at the hands of 
the Prince of Wales, His Majesty addressed the troops in the 
following words : " I wish to convey to all ranks the high satis- 
faction it has given me to see this splendid contingent from 
India. I almost feared, owing to my serious illness, that I 
27 



4i 8 THE CORONATION 

would be prevented from having the advantage of seeing you, 
but I am glad to say that by God's mercy I am well again. I 
recognize among you many of the regiments I had the advan- 
tage of seeing at Delhi during my tour of India." During the 
next few days various minor functions took place, and the 
Colonial leaders especially were feasted and entertained in 
every possible way. 

On August 17th the final event occurred in connection 
with the Coronation. It was the mighty greeting of a great 
fleet to the Sovereign of a wide-flung realm. It was the 
inspection of a naval force which a generation before could 
have dominated the seas of the world and put all civilized 
nations under tribute. Gathered together from the Home 
Station, the Channel squadron and the Cruising squadron ; 
without the detachment of a ship from foreign waters or 
Colonial stations, it included 20 battleships, 24 cruisers and 47 
torpedo crafts, with an outer fringe of foreign vessels con- 
tributed in complimentary fashion to honour the occasion. 
From Spithead to the Isle of Wight the horizon was black 
with great grim vessels of war decked out with flags, and as 
the King's yacht approached the first line of ships, a hundred 
Royal salutes made a tremendous burst of sound such as prob- 
ably the greatest battle-fields of history had never heard. As 
the King, in Admiral's uniform, stood upon the deck of his 
vessel and passed slowly down the lines, a signal given at a 
certain moment evoked one of the most impressive incidents 
which even he had ever encountered — a simultaneous roar of 
cheers from the powerful throats of 50,000 enthusiastic sailors. 
The sound rolled from shore to shore, and ship to ship, was 
echoed from 100,000 spectators on land and sea, and repeated 
again from the battleships. The King was deeply moved by 
this crowning tribute of loyalty, and at once signaled his 
gratification to the fleet and an invitation to its flag officers to 
come aboard his yacht and reeeive a personal expression of 



THE CORONATION 419 

his feelings. In the evening electric and coloured lights of 
every kind and in countless number combined with flashing 
searchlights to illuminate the great fleet and to cast a glamour 
of fairy land over the splendid scene. 

Meanwhile, in the morning, His Majesty had received on 
board his yacht the celebrated Boer Generals, Botha, De Wet 
and De la Rey. Afterwards, in company with Lord Kitchener 
and Earl Roberts they had returned to London greatly pleased 
with the cordiality of their reception and especially gratified at 
the kind manner of Queen Alexandra. Following the official 
Naval Review, the King on the next day visited the fleet in a 
stormy sea and watched it go through certain manoeuvres of 
a practical kind before being dispersed to its different local 
stations. On his return to London he found the Shah of 
Persia a guest of the nation and awaiting formal reception at 
the hands of its Monarch. And thus King Edward took up 
again his unceasing round of duty and ceremonial and high 
responsibility. In the past year or two he had gone through 
every variety of emotional experience and official work and 
brilliant ceremony — his mother's death and the consequent 
mourning of a nation and empire ; his own assumption of new 
and heavy duties ; the special labours of an expectant period ; 
the time of serious illness and the anxieties of complex respon- 
sibility to a world-wide public ; the realization of his Corona- 
tion hopes ; the change from an old to a new period stamped 
by tbe change in his national advisers and the presence of his 
Colonial Premiers. He now entered upon his further life- 
work, whether long or short, no man could tell, with chastened 
feelings in a personal sense but, it is safe to say, with high and 
brilliant hopes for the future of his own home country and of 
its Imperial greatness in assocation with those other lands in 
many parts of the world whose loyalty had lately been so 
strongly shown and whose prospects under the Crown of 
Edward the Seventh now appeared so fair and bright. 





(420) 



CHAPTER XXIV 

The Industrial and Commercial Development 

of Great Britain 

INDUSTRY in the past centuries was a strikingly different thing 
from what it has been in the recent period. For a century it 

has been passing through a great process of evolution, which 
has by no means reached its culmination, and whose final outcome 
no man can safely predict. 

For a long period during the medieval and the subsequent cen- 
turies industry existed in a stable condition, or one whose changes 
were few and none of them revolutionary. Manufacture was in a 
large sense individual. The great hive of industry known as a fac- 
tory did not exist, workshops being small and every expert mechanic 
able to conduct business as a master. Employees were mainly 
apprentices, each of whom expected to become a master mechanic, 
or, if he chose to work for a master, did so with an independence 
that no longer exists. The workshop was usually a portion of the 
dwelling, where the master worked with his apprentices, teaching 
them the whole art and mystery of his craft, and giving them knowl- 
edge of a complete trade, not of a minor portion of one, as in our 
day. 

The trade-union had its prototype in the gild. But this was 
in no sense a combination of labor for protection against capital, 
but of master workmen to protect their calling from being swamped 
by invasion from without. In truth, when we go back into the past 
centuries, it is to find ourselves in another world of labor, radically 
different from that which surrounds us to-day. 

It was the steam-engine that precipitated the revolution in 
industry. This great invention rendered possible labor-saving 

421 



422 THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 

machinery. From working directly upon the material, men began 
to work indirectly through the medium of machines. As a result, 
the old household industries rapidly disappeared. Engines and 
machines needed special buildings to contain them and large sums 
of money to purchase them, the separation of capital and labor 
began, and the nineteenth century opened with the factory system 
fully launched upon the world. 

Great Britain, small as it was, had grown, by the opening of the 
nineteenth century, to be the leading power in Europe. Its indus- 
tries, its commerce, its enterprise were expanding enormously, and 
it was becoming the great workshop and the chief distributor of the 
world. The raw material of the nations flowed through its ports, 
the finished products of mankind poured from its looms, London 
became the great money center of the world, and the industrious 
and enterprising islanders grew rich and prosperous, while few steps 
of progress and enterprise showed themselves in any of the nations 
of the continent. 

VAST ACCUMULATIONS OF CAPITAL 

The century of Victoria's reign was one of vast accumulations 
of capital in single hands or under the control of companies, the 
concentration of labor in factories and workshops, the extraordinary 
development of labor-saving machines, the growth of monopolies on 
the one hand and of labor unions on the other, the revolt of labor 
against the tyranny of capital, the battle for shorter hours and 
higher wasres, the coming of woman into the labor field as a rival of 
man, the development of economic theories and industrial organiza- 
tions, and in still other ways the growth of a state of affairs in the 
world of industry that had no counterpart in the past. 

In past times wealth was largely accumulated in the hands of 
the nobility, who had no thought of using it productively. Such of 
it as lay under the control of the commonalty was applied mainly 
for commercial purposes and in usury, and comparatively little was 
used in manufacture. This state of affairs was brought somewhat 
suddenly to an end by the inventions above mentioned. Capital 



THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 423 

became largely diverted to purposes of manufacture, wealth grew 
rapidly as a result of the new methods of production, the making of 
articles cheaply required costly plants in buildings and machinery, 
which put production beyond the reach of the ordinary artisan, the 
old individuality in labor disappeared, the number of employers 
largely diminished and that of employees increased, and the medi- 
eval gild vanished, the workmen finding themselves exposed to a 
state of affairs unlike that for which their old organizations were 
devised. 

A radically new condition of industrial affairs had come, and 
the working-class was not prepared to meet it. Everywhere the 
employers became supreme, and the men were at their mercy. 
Labor was dismayed. Its unions lost their industrial character and 
resumed their original form of purely benevolent associations. Such 
was the state of affairs in the early years of the nineteenth century. 
Industry was in a stage of transition, and inevitably suffered from 
the change. It was only at a later date that the idea of mutual aid 
in industry revived, and the trade union — a new form of association 
adapted to the new situation — arose as the lineal successor of the 
old society of artisans. 

Great Britain did not content herself with going abroad for the 
materials of her active industries. She dug her way into the bowels 
of the earth, tore from the rocks its treasures of coal and iron, and 
thus obtained the necessary fuel for her furnaces and metal for her 
machines. The whole island resounded with the ringing of ham- 
mers and rattle of wheels, goods were produced very far beyond 
the capacity of the island for their consumption, and the vast surplus 
was sent abroad to all quarters of the earth, to clothe savages in far- 
off regions, and to furnish articles of use and luxury to the most 
enlightened of the nations. To the ship as a carrier was soon added 
the locomotive and its cars, conveying these products inland with 
unprecedented speed from a thousand ports. And from America 
came the parallel discovery of the steamship, signaling the close of 
the long centuries of dominion of the sail. 



424 THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 

Years went on, and still the power and prestige of Great Britain 
grew, still its industry and commerce spread and expanded, still its 
colonies increased in population and new lands were added to the 
sum, until the island empire stood foremost in industry and enter- 
prise among the nations of the world, and its people reached the 
summit of their prosperity. From this lofty elevation was to come, 
in the later years of the century, a slow but inevitable decline, as the 
United States and the leading European nations developed in indus- 
try, and rivals to the productive and commercial supremacy of the 
British islanders began to arise in various quarters of the earth. 

THE FACTORY SYSTEM BROUGHT MISERY 

It cannot be said that the industrial prosperity of Great Britain, 
while of advantage to her people as a whole, was necessarily so to 
individuals. While one portion of the nation amassed enormous 
wealth, the bulk of the nation sank into the deepest poverty. The 
factory system brought with it oppression and misery which it would 
need a century of industrial revolt to overcome. The costly wars, 
the crushing taxation, the oppressive Corn Laws, which forbade the 
importation of foreign corn, the extravagant expenses of the court 
and salaries of officials, all conspired to depress the people. Manu- 
facturies fell into the hands of the few, and a vast number of artisans 
were forced to live from hand to mouth, and to labor for long hours 
on pinching wages. Estates were similarly accumulated in the hands 
of the few, and the small land-owner and trader tended to disappear. 
Everything was taxed to the utmost it would bear, while government 
remained blind to the needs and sufferings of the people and made 
no effort to decrease the prevailing misery. 

Thus it came about that the era of Great Britain's highest pros- 
perity and supremacy as a world power was the one of greatest 
industrial oppression and misery at home — a period marked by 
rebellious uprisings among the people, which were repressed with 
cruel and bloody severity. It was a period of industrial transition, 
in which the people suffered deeply and the seeds of discontent and 



THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 425 

revolt were widely sown. This was the condition of industrial affairs 
when Victoria came to the throne. The era of her reign was largely 
devoted to its amelioration, and by its close the working-classes 
had won an assured position, and the old-time suffering and discon- 
tent were largely overcome. Want and misery existed still, abun- 
dance of them, but not among the members of the trades-unions — 
rather in that helpless and hopeless stratum of the population whose 
troubles have so far proved almost impossible to reach, much less to 
cure. 

If we look back a few years into the past, it is to find the com- 
mercial superiority of England so overwhelming that no other 
nation came into comparison with it. Of the goods exported from 
all foreign countries, nearly one-half came to England. The exports 
of England, the product of her multitudinous workshops, were 
equal to one-third of those of all the rest of the world. Of the 
seventy million spindles employed in the production of cotton 
fabrics, forty million belonged to the people of the British islands. 
Woolen and linen fabrics, coal, iron, machinery, and many kinds of 
manufactured goods were produced in immense quantities and sup- 
plied to mankind throughout the world. 

Robert Mackenzie, in his notable work, "The Nineteenth Cen- 
tury," succinctly indicates the earlier state of affairs, as a quotation 
from his pages will clearly show : 

" England was not the birthplace of the industries which have 
attained upon her soil a maturity so splendid. Calicoes were im- 
ported from India long before they could be made in England. Silk- 
weaving was taught us by the Italians and French. The Flemings 
brought us our fine woolen trade. The Venetians showed us how 
to make glass. France and Holland were before us in paper-making, 
and a German erected our first paper-mill. Cotton-printing came to 
us from France. Although we had longf made coarse linens, we 
were indebted for the finer varieties to Germany and Belgium. Our 
cloth was sent to Holland to be bleached and dyed. The Dutch 
caught our fish for us down to the end of the eighteenth century. A 



426 THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 

Dutchman began our potteries. The Danes and Genoese built ships 
for us. The Dutch were our masters in engineering, and showed us 
how to erect the wind and water mills which presided over the lowly 
dawn of our manufacturing system. Tuscany made our straw hats. 
Much of our salt and most of our earthenware came from the Conti- 
nent. Till nearly the middle of the last [the eighteenth] century we 
imported two-thirds of the iron which we used. The use of coal for 
smelting was then only beginning, and the infancy of our gigantic 
iron-trade was watched with hostile eyes by a people who saw that 
it devoured the wood which they needed for fuel. The industrial 
genius of England awoke late, but at one stride it distanced all com- 
petitors. 

" Until long after the middle of the eighteenth century commerce 
was strangled by the impossibility of conveying goods from one 
part of the country to another. While the English, with ill-directed 
heroism, expended life and treasure in the worthless strifes of the 
Continent, they were almost without roads at home. In all Europe 
there were no roads worse than theirs. It cost forty shillings to 
transport a ton of coals from Liverpool to Manchester. The food 
of London was for the most part carried on pack-horses. Often the 
large towns endured famine while the farmers at no great distance 
could find no market for their meat and grain. The peasant raised 
his own food. He grew his own flax or wool ; his wife or daughters 
spun it, and a neighbor wove it into cloth. Commerce was impos- 
sible until men could find the means of transporting goods from 
the place where they were produced to the place where there were 
people willing to make use of them." 

England's preeminence in manufacture 

In truth, England's preeminence in manufacture and commerce 
dates no further back than the beginning of the French Revolution, 
of which it was in some measure the product, and its supreme era 
of development lay within the Victorian reign. One does not need 
to go far back to find the origin of the cotton trade, that bulwark of 



THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 427 

England's supremacy. In 1785 the British kingdom exported only 
,£800,000 worth of cotton goods, and less than ^14,000,000 worth 
of goods of all kinds. And for many years previous her advance 
had been very slow. But before the eighteenth century ended the 
steam-engine had been invented, spinning and weaving machines 
were in existence, and Eli Whitney's cotton-gin was at work in the 
American fields, setting free with new rapidity the valuable cotton 
fiber. Cheap cotton gave England her great opportunity. It 
began to pour into her ports. By 1801 her imports of cotton 
reached 21,000,000 pounds ; in 1830, 200,000,000 pounds ; in 1885, 
1,700,000,000 pounds. In 1900 the cotton imports had made no 
further advance, and the empire of the loom was spreading to other 
lands. 

Yet there was a check to the progress which cheap cotton, the 
steam-engine, the spinning machine, and, subsequently, the locomo- 
tive and the steamship, began to bring to the British nation. This 
was the system of protection, the import duties of which the Corn 
Law was the keystone. The repeal of this law, after Victoria came 
to the throne, gave an immense impetus to the industries of Great 
Britain. After the Corn Law fell, the whole protective system 
swiftly followed. In 1842 there were 1200 articles on which duty 
was levied in British ports. A few years later there were only 
twelve — and they were left only for revenue. With this the artificial 
regulation of prices came to an end, and the great natural law of 
supply and demand was given the freest and fullest liberty. The 
British islands had no need of protective duties. No nation on the 
earth had equal facilities for production or could place goods on the 
market at lower prices. No nation had such facilities for distribu- 
tion as arose from Britain's rapidly growing commercial fleet. Pro- 
tection, to that country, was a brake upon the wheels of progress. 
When it was lifted, these flew round with vastly accelerated speed. 

In 1846 the whole foreign commerce of the United Kingdom — 
imports and exports combined — was only ^134,000,000 — five times 
that of 1785, but far less than it was destined to become. In 



428 THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 

1890 it had reached the enormous total of ^748,000,000. In 1900 
it had grown to about ^800,000,000, or $4,000,000,000 in American 
currency ; the extraordinary enterprise of the island empire had 
carried her ships to all seas, and made her the commercial emporium 
of the world. Not only to her own colonies, but to all lands, sailed 
her enormous fleet of merchantmen, gathering the products of the 
earth, to be consumed at home or distributed again to the nations 
of Europe and America. She had assumed the position of the pur- 
veyor and carrier for mankind. This was not all. Great Britain 
was in a large measure the producer for mankind. Manufacturing 
enterprise and industry had increased immensely on her soil, and 
countless factories, forges, and other workshops turned out finished 
goods with a speed and profusion undreamed of before. Machines 
for spinning, weaving, iron-working, and a thousand other processes 
were in use on all parts of Britain's soil, and by their aid one of the 
greatest steps of progress in the whole history of mankind had 
taken place — the grand nineteenth century revolution in production, 
which was matched only by the equally grand revolution in commer- 
cial distribution. 

INVENTIVE PROGRESS DURING VICTORIA'S REIGN 

To glance rapidly at some of the steps of inventive progress 
during Victoria's reign we may quote from Sir Edwin Arnold. 
While a small child, he was taken by his nurse to see the troops in 
the street when Victoria was proclaimed Queen, and on his way 
home he saw something quite new — a man selling lucifer matches 
in the street, and drawing them through a folded piece of sand-paper 
to show how they would burst into flame. 

"On that morning," says Sir Edwin, "as on all mornings before, 
I had, probably, on awakening from sleep, witnessed my nurse kin- 
dlino- the fire or liehtine the dressing candles with an old-fashioned 
flint and steel, laboriously striking the wayward sparks into a smutty 
tinder, and then applying to a traveling fringe of fire the point of a 
splinter of wood dipped into brimstone, bundles of which used to be 



THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 429 

sold by beggars in the highways. So did we procure the sacred 
element when this reign began ; little, if at all, advanced beyond the 
fire-stick of the savage. 

"From that trivial Coronation Day match the thought passes 
naturally to very much greater things. I do not even know whether 
the lucifer can be set down as a British discovery ; yet of what won- 
derful new times, of what superb mental and mechanical expansions, 
of what amazing- revelations in science and advances in arts, trades, 
commerce, geographical research, imperial possessions, uprises in 
political liberty, education and daily life ; of what stirring events 
abroad, what augmentation of population and national wealth at 
home, and what unforeseen but epoch-making occurrences generally, 
was that Coronation match to become the humble harbinger ! One 
needs, no doubt, to strain the memory in order to force it back into 
realizing all the strange backwardness of those days. Let me, never- 
theless, make an endeavor towards this by means of a sharp contrast 
or two of facts and figures. 

"The revenue of the United Kingdom — to-day exceeding one 
hundred millions — stood in 1837 at forty-seven millions only. There 
was no railway open between Liverpool and Birmingham in that 
England which now has 21,000 miles of iron roads, and you still went 
down to the Blackwall Docks in carriages drawn by a rope. Not a 
single electric wire spanned the air, or burrowed through the earth, 
or crept under the sea. Lord Beaconsfield, whose ' Primrose Day ' 
is now a national festival, had not made his maiden speech. The 
Sirius and the Great Western steamers — earliest of their kind — had 
yet to cross the Atlantic ; Grace Darling had not, by her sweet story 
of heroism, started our noble life-boat system, the glory of British 
coasts; India was still reached only by the long Cape route, for' 
Waghorn did not ventilate his overland scheme in the Jerusalem 
Coffee House until October 12, 1838. 

"We had practically little use as yet of railroads, telegraph 
wires, and of steam navigation, and were only beginning to get the 
new machine of our popular representative institutions into order at 



430 THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 

the time when those Coronation trumpets sounded. The Reform 
Act was but five years old ; the criminal law was still fierce and 
bloody ; the wealth of even such a family as Mr. Gladstone's had 
been derived without public scruples from the labor and sale of 
slaves ; when softly and auspiciously — into this epoch, the descrip- 
tion of which must smack of barbarism to the young, as we recall it 
— entered the gracious figure of the girl Queen, bringing in her. 
hand the magic wand of virtue, and, as we see to-day, those hidden 
national benedictions which accompany its eternal potency. For, 
indeed, our Queen has borne an immense personal part in molding 
her age, if that age has also reflected back upon her name and her 
greatness a luster beyond the glory of all other reigns." 

A quotation from the same writer, in reference to the progress 
in postal facilities, a direct outgrowth of the developments above 
described, will not be without interest, although we have referred to 
this subject elsewhere : 

"Rowland Hill published his pamphlet on 'Postal Reform' in 
1837. Thus one may affirm that it was Queen Victoria who brought 
the penny post with her. In 1839 the charge for letters inside Lon- 
don was timidly lowered to a penny. In 1840 this boon was tenta- 
tively extended to the United Kingdom. By 1884 the penny stamp, 
in which the wiseacres of the old post office utterly disbelieved, had 
been issued to the amazing total of thirty-one billions, three hundred 
millions ! The number of letters posted yearly at the date of her 
Majesty's accession was 80,000,000 ; the number to-day is rapidly 
approaching two thousand millions ! Imagine what this signifies in 
closer and more constant intercourse of home with home, heart with 
heart, mind with mind, locality with locality, friend with friend, parent 
with child, lover with sweetheart, customer with dealer. It is all Vic- 
torian ! In 1836 a letter took ten hours to go from Charing Cross 
to Hampstead, and might cost one shilling and eight pence." 

One further result of the immense progress in industry and 
commerce made by Great Britain during the Victorian era may be 
here given. While the producing and trading classes won vast 



THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 43* 

wealth, the working-classes shared the advantages of the new con- 
ditions. During the reign of the Queen they passed from a posi- 
tion of oppression to one of power. From being the victims of a 
system of crushing taxation, they emerged into an economic system 
in which the payment of taxes was largely optional. 

It was estimated, about the close of the Napoleonic wars, that 
a workman paid nearly eleven pounds annually out of his small 
income to sustain the government and to protect the home indus- 
tries. In the case of poorly paid workmen, such as the handloom 
weaver, this absorbed nearly one-half his income. Thirty years 
later Mr. Cobden estimated that of every pound sterling expended 
by the working-classes on the great staples of consumption, from 
4s. to 1 6s. went to the government. 

In the succeeding years these taxes on imported goods — upon 
which the British workingman so largely depends — have practically 
disappeared. Only two articles pay heavily, spirits and tobacco, and 
it is at the option of the artisan whether or not he consumes and 
pays taxes on these detrimental luxuries. The only excise tax 
remaining on necessary articles of consumption is that on tea, and 
this averages less than three shillings annually for each of the popu- 
lation. So, for the very moderate exaction of less than one penny 
per week, any British workingman who chooses may enjoy the 
advantages of citizenship. This is certainly a vast advance from 
his condition when Victoria came to the throne, and when nearly 
one-half of his very moderate wages went to the government. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Victoria — England's Great Queen 

A Canadian Tribute 



THROUGH all the stages in the life of the oldest native of 
our Canadian soil, the Queen has ruled over his country 
and reigned in his heart. Her name has become synony- 
mous with the majestic position and place in the world of those 
little islands to which British people everywhere look back with 
pride and affection. It has become an emblem of the highest and 
purest home life and domestic love known to humanity during the 
past century. It has, with an ever-increasing environment of splen- 
dor, been for sixty-four years the embodiment of British power 
and Imperial growth, It has become the living centre of a loyalty 
which has grown with the years in youthful countries all around the 
globe, and strengthened with the span of men's lives in every 
clime and under every condition. It has developed an Imperial- 
ism which is destined to make the British realm one in unity and 
power and continued progress, wherever flies the flag of a British 
Sovereign. It has, in the United Kingdom and the self-governing 
Colonies, combined popular liberty with personal loyalty, incor- 
porated democracy with monarchy and made the Crown an effec- 
tive pledge of national stability. 

The creation of such a name and fame has been a noble ser- 
vice to the world as well as to the Empire of which Queen Vic- 
toria was the head. How it developed is a part of the history of 
a great era ; part of the life of every statesman who led in the 
government of Britain or India, Canada, Australia, or South 
432 



A CANADIAN TRIBUTE 433 

Africa ; part of the literature, the public life, the social system, the 
religious expansion, the Imperial growth, of that prolonged period. 
It is high praise to say of the Queen that she was a good woman. 
Through being so she gave her people the example of a model 
mother, a loving wife, a devoted widow, and the privilege of a pure 
Court and firm-set antagonism to all looseness in the marriage tie 
and in social morals. But she was much more than a good woman. 
British statesmen knew something of her influence upon the policy 
of the country, her deep and intimate knowledge of its affairs, her 
wise counsel and strong opinions. For over six decades Prime 
Ministers and Cabinets have come and gone, politicians have risen 
to the surface of affairs or fallen in the attempt, Governors have 
gone out from the centre of administration to all parts of the 
world in a long procession of varied character, rulers have suc- 
ceeded each other upon the thrones of Europe and the East, or 
in the fleeting seats of republican power. Yet through all these 
passing changes the Queen has reigned and come into more or less 
close personal contact with the passing phantoms of popular rule. 

Through having the continued confidence and regard of all 
her Ministers, she has had the best and highest counsel which 
could be given by such men as Wellington and Peel and Graham 
and Russell, Sidney Herbert and Derby and Gladstone and Bea- 
consfield, Clarendon and Iddesleigh and Rosebery and Salisbury. 
Wherever she may have been staying during all these years — 
whether at Osborne, or Balmoral, or Windsor, or upon the Conti- 
nent, — she has always had a Minister in constant attendance, and 
been in continuous touch by courier or telegraph with the Govern- 
ment at Downing Street. All despatches of importance have had 
to be submitted to her careful consideration, and Lord Palmerston, 
in the early " fifties," suffered dismissal from the Foreign Secretary- 
ship for occasionally disregarding this essential condition. States- 
men, however, did not stand alone around her throne and person. 
At her Court have gathered men and women of fame and force in 
every department of national life — heads of the Churches, experts 
-3 



434 A CANADIAN TRIBUTE 

in science and philosophy, men of the world, women of noble aim 
and ideal leaders of art and literature, travelers from every land 
and clime, soldiers and sailors of renown. Of experience and 
knowledge they have given her their best, and in return she 
has been able to offer her statesmen and advisers the garnered 
wisdom of growing years, the treasured patriotism of a mind far 
above party or political bias, the influence of unselfish aspirations 
for the good of her people. 

Upon the actual government of the United Kingdom the 
Queen has wielded a greater power than is generally known. Con- 
stitutional it always was, and the explanation of its undoubted force 
is easily found in the strength of her own personality. Here and 
there in the biographical or autobiographical literature of the 
reign — despite the fact that no letter from the Sovereign can be 
published without her permission and the occasional repetition of 
such incidents as the burning by Sir Robert Peel of his correspond- 
ence with Her Majesty in order to avoid the barest possibility of 
its falling into wrong hands — documents have crept into print, let- 
ters have seen the light written by statesmen to one another, com- 
ments have appeared by men who knew of what they were speak- 
ing, which combine to illustrate the power she has really wielded. 
Martin's " Life of the Prince Consort " shows her intervention in 
several important matters ; Archbishop Tait's "Memoirs" give the 
particulars of her statesmanlike action in the Irish Disestablish- 
ment Crisis. Wherever the Royal influence appears it seems to 
have been exercised with tact and discrimination. 

In foreign politics her power was freely exercised, and in later 
years was so absolutely undisputed that a British leader who had 
held the post of Foreign Secretary told the writer that in matters 
of foreign policy " the Queen advised her Ministers more than 
they advised her." Certain historical incidents in this connection are 
well established. In 1844 her intimate relations with King Louis 
Philippe of France and his wife averted an otherwise imminent 
war. The friendship which grew up with the Emperor Napoleon III. 



A CANADIAN TRIBUTE 435 

had much to do with the alliance between France and Eng 
land in the Crimea. Yet, in spite of those personal relations, 
Her Majesty's published correspondence with Lord Palmerston in 
the stormy years of 1 859-60 show that she several times prevented 
England from becoming an instrument of French ambitions in 
Italy and Austria. Her position in the Schleswig-Holstein ques- 
tion was not quite the popular one, and Lord Malmesbury, who 
was then Foreign Secretary, declares in his " Diary " that the 
Queen "would not hear of going to war with Germany," and that 
ultimately she carried her Cabinet with her in the policy of non- 
intervention which finally developed. During the Trent affair with 
the United States she compelled a modification of her Ministry's 
strong attitude, and practically averted war ; during the whole of 
the American Civil War her sympathies were with the North, and 
the tremendous pressure of the Emperor Napoleon in favor of 
joint intervention — favored as it was by the bulk of her own Cabi- 
net — was ultimately overcome through her personal influence with 
her Ministers. Upon later events history is as yet silent, and must 
be for years to come ; but Lord Beaconsfield has declared that the 
Queen's signature was "never placed to any public document of 
which she did not approve," and that " there is no despatch from 
abroad, nor any sent from the country, which is not submitted to 
her." It is, therefore, evident, even without a knowledge of her 
exact participation in matters of recent import, that the share taken, 
and the influence of opinions expressed by her, must have been 
very great. 

In the policy which looks for closer and more intimate rela- 
tions between the various countries of the Empire the Queen has 
been the pivot, and loyalty to her throne the key-note. Face to 
face in the earlier part of the reign with a school of political 
thought — represented by men like Bright and Cobden and Moles- 
worth and Cornewall Lewis, and in lesser degree of importance, 
by Goldwin Smith — which looked upon Colonies as encumber- 
ances and cosmopolitan commerce as the god of its idolatry, she 



43 6 A CANADIAN TRIBUTE 

set herself to make the throne a rallying-point of the opposite sen- 
timent and, in time, succeeded in her aim to such a degree that 
during the last years of the reign there was practically only one 
principle prevalent throughout the English-speaking portion of the 
Empire— one of unity, loyalty, and sympathy. She sent the Prince 
of Wales to visit Canada and the Duke of Edinburgh to visit the 
Cape and Australia at a time when the journey was long and a 
matter of serious meaning to an anxious mother. Her correspond- 
ence with Sir George Grey, when Governor at the Cape in the early 
"fifties," shows her sympathy with far-seeing plans of local federa- 
tion which were then possible, and, if carried out, would have averted 
the South African troubles of 1880 and the evils of a later time. 
Her correspondence with Lord Canning proves that changes which 
she commanded in the proposed Royal proclamation transferring 
India from the Company to the Crown prevented another mutiny 
or insurrection, just as her previous influence with Lord Panmure, 
Minister of War, at the close of the Crimean struggle, kept the 
army up to a point at which it was enabled to cope with the sud- 
den strain of the great Indian crisis of 1857. The Queen has, also, 
during her long reign been in receipt of continuous private letters 
from her Governors in all parts of the world — India, Canada, Africa, 
Australia, Jamaica, and many other dependencies or colonies — and 
her advice and frequent commands have had a far wider and 
greater influence in moulding the destinies of the Empire than the 
public has any present conception of. 

What Canada owes to the Queen may be inferred in a general 
way from what the Empire at large is indebted to her life and reign. 
In a specific sense, however, she owes much. The Victorian era 
opened with rebellion, dissatisfaction, disunion and an utter absence 
of Provincial cohesion ; it closes with peace, contentment, federal 
unity and a national loyalty which harmoniously combines local and 
Imperial sentiment. Around the throne as a stable centre of 
fealty and respect has slowly crystalized the feeling of a scattered 
people until it found gradual and indirect expression in the political 



A CANADIAN TRIBUTE 437 

union of the Provinces by confederation ; their commercial union 
by increasing fiscal and railway legislation ; their financial credit 
by following British precedent in banking and trade principles; 
their adherance to an ever-growing policy of unity with the Empire 
in political and mititary affairs as in sentiment and commercial 
matters ; their avoidance of certain laxities and moral pit-falls 
which have troubled other nations. Into this process of evolution 
have come many elements of Royal influence and personal action. 
Working together with the more general principles applicable to 
other parts of the Empire as well as to the Dominion, they have 
produced a condition where Canadians profoundly believe in the 
institution of a limited monarchy as the only means of preserving 
a really dignified democracy and conserving a permanent British 
connection and an all-powerful Empire. Under the Queen's rule, 
they have developed a land which is "rich in heart, in home, in 
hope, in liberty " and institutions which rest upon the free-will of 
a free people, and interpret the best thoughts and aspirations of 
modern civilization while combining a wealth of historic tradition in 
the old Mother-land with the impetus and freshness of heart, new 
regions and rising nations all over the world. 

What the Empire as a whole owes to the Queen and what it 
has become under the Queen is a matter of tremendous import. 
In territory the Crown of Great Britain and Ireland, the people of 
the United Kingdom, have since the Queen came to the throne 
acquired Natal and Bechuanaland, Basutoland and Zululand, Brit- 
ish New Guinea and North Borneo, Sabraon and the most of 
the Gold Coast, Fiji and Cyprus, the basin of the Niger and 
Burmah, fully half of British India, Wei-Hai-Wei and Kowloon 
in China, a million square miles in Central Africa, the Solomon 
Islands and many minor islands in the Pacific, the Orange Free 
State and the Transvaal, and to all intents and purposes, Egypt 
and the vast Soudan region. There are 11,000,000 square miles of 
more or less cultivated and populated British territory in 1901 as 
against the wild wastes of British North America and Australia, 



438 A CANADIAN TRIBUTE 

the sea-fringe of civilized region at the Cape, the initiatory 
developments of Indian empire, in 1837. There are at least 
420,000,000 of people owning allegiance to the Crown and an Im- 
perial trade of more than 8000 millions of dollars. In 1837 the trade 
of Great Britain alone was $20 per head ; in 1900 it averaged $105 
per head. The assets of joint stock banks in the United King- 
dom are now 7,000 millions while their deposits, and those in the 
savings banks, total up to over 6,000 millions. At the beginning 
of the nineteenth century Great Britain's shipping was 4,000,000 
tons and that of the infant United States came in a good second 
with 1,850,000 tons. In i860 the American tonnage exceeded that 
of England. At the close of the Queen's reign the British 
Empire possesses a tonnage of 1 1,000,000 or nearly half the entire 
tonnage of the world, which totals up to 25,000,000. 

But the greatest feature of the Oueen's reiom has not been 
enlargement of the bounds of Empire, nor even the far-reaching 
expansion of commerce and wealth. It is to be found in the solid 
and substantial growth of great communities owing allegiance to 
the Crown- — a progress based upon British principles of govern- 
ment and general polity, British freedom to do and dare and 
achieve. Into the vast and complex system of the Indian depend- 
ency have come during that period new countries and peoples, new 
conditions and problems, great trials and disasters. Yet nearly 
every change has been for the betterment of the masses and where 
change or reform has been refused it was through the wise 
caution of far-seeing statesmen administering the affairs of more 
than two hundred millions of human beings with all their varied 
civilizations and infinite degrees of grievance, caste prejudice and 
religious hatred. The trade of the Indian Empire has grown 
greatly, the country is gradually becoming a network of railways, 
the colleges are filled with native pupils, the intelligence of the 
upper classes is being developed along Western lines, the tyran- 
nical rule of native Princes is held in check and controlled. 
Through it all runs a perceptible sentiment of growing loyalty, 



A CANADIAN TRIBUTE 439 

Since the assumption of the East India Company's rights by the 
Crown, and, still more, since the initiation of the vivid appeal to 
Oriental imagination contained in the crowning of the Queen as 
Empress of India, the vast populations of that region have more and 
more awakened to the existence of a greater ruler whom they must 
respect and whose laws they must obey — a being far-away in per- 
son but ever-present in power and embodying virtues and authoritv 
which constitute to ignorant minds qualities of almost divine force. 
The value of this curious sentiment of Eastern loyalty can only be 
truly guaged by the depths and heights of Oriental imagination and 
the influence of a name upon minds of primeval darkness com- 
bined with perceptions of peculiar quickness. 

Australia is literally a creation of the Queen's reign while its 
popular opinion is emphatically a product of the Queen's influence. 
Within half-a-century its Colonies have grown from a fringe of 
population along the sea-shore into four millions of rich and 
prosperous people and developed into States of a powerful federal 
Commonwealth under the British Crown — enthusiastically loyal, 
strong, keenly ambitious, aggressively energetic. With a yearly 
revenue of $130,000,000, an unfelt debt of over $800,000,000, a 
registered shipping of 100,000,000 annual tonnage, the possession 
of 10,000,000 cattle and 80,000,000 sheep, the production of more 
than $50,000,000 worth of gold annually, the country has a right to 
be proud of its progress. That progress its people have made 
themselves — with the help of British capital. But, for their institu- 
tions and the curbing of a fierce democracy, the education of a 
young and aggressive people in the dignified principles of British 
government, the growth toward the Mother-land instead of away 
from it, the later tendency toward Imperialism which has swallowed 
up in victory the earlier one toward localism and independence, 
they owe much to external influences and the greatest of these has 
been the life, the ideals, the administration, the personality of the 
Sovereign. The Crown has now become the symbol of Imperial 
power the centre of British loyalty all around the world, and as 



44 o A CANADIAN TRIBUTE 

such it constitutes the motive power of an Empire's unity. With- 
out such a life and character as those of Queen Victoria it might, 
however have never attained that position in far-away democracies 
and could certainly have never reached its present degree of 
authority. The Queen was always in close touch with the Austra- 
lian Colonies. Queensland by her suggestion was given its name, 
Victoria received its baptism from the Sovereign. As the Colonies 
grew in population and power great functions were marked by tactful 
royal messages and Governors came direct from the presence of 
the Queen to the peoples of her far-away possessions. Into their 
hearts and lives she gradually grew and with the influence of her 
personality came slowly, and then swiftly, the spirit of a British 
patriotism which incorporated, instead of superceding, the dominant 
note of Australian local pride. 

South Africa has not been so fortunate. Royal visits have 
been made at the Queen's command ; loyalty amongst the English- 
speaking settlers has developed under stress of war to a white-heat 
of emotion ; the Dutch colonists have grown to appreciate the 
goodness of their Sovereign and, as a whole, have abstained from 
rebellion during the war which troubled the last days of her reign. 
How far her influence made for peace and territorial and constitu- 
tional growth in South Africa can be dimly seen from casual glimpses 
of her policy. That she favored Grey's policy in earlier days has 
been already mentioned ; that she admired and trusted and endorsed 
Sir Bartle Frere in the wise policy of a later Confederation, which 
was so unfortunately balked, is pretty well established ; that she 
sympathized with Mr. Cecil Rhodes' great ambitions and proposals 
— without reference to details such as the Jameson Raid — is also 
known. What is not known, or at least fully comprehended, is that 
through all these various changes in her Empire during sixty-four 
years, through the growth of villages into cities, tiny settlements 
into great States, vast areas of waste land into noble provinces, 
fringes of population into Dominions and Commonwealths, she has 
been more or less an influence upon her thirty and more Colonial 



A CANADIAN TRIBUTE 441 

Secretaries — a force for constitutional freedom, for Imperial loyalty, 
for united and common-sense progress. Not always a successful 
force, of course, but always a steady, persistent, certain element 
in the better government and the greater unity of her Empire. 

The end of the long reign, the close of a noble life, the last 
days of a great era, have now come. With this tide in British 
affairs has also come an overwhelmino- demonstration of love and 

o 

loyalty, the picture of a great Empire literally draped in garments 
of mourning, the spectacle of a silent and sorrowful people from 
London to Melbourne, from Calcutta to Montreal, from Capetown 
to Ceylon, following their Sovereign to her last resting-place. Such 
a scene has never been witnessed before ; it can hardly be re-enacted 
within the life of anyone now living. That her example and prin- 
ciples will live after her, goes without saying. The. world has been 
better for Queen Victoria, the Empire has been greater and 
stronger, the people have been purer and wiser, the bounds of true 
and guarded freedom have been made broader and deeper. Under 
a son and successor trained in her precepts and practices and policy 
that progress should be carried on and the lamp that has lit the Vic- 
torian era along paths of constitutional liberty and Imperial unity 
should be kept flaming with the spirit of popular loyalty and high 
ideals of government. 



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